Netball Australia chief executive, Kelly Ryan, has resigned days after an in-principle agreement on a new pay deal for players was secured, in the wake of criticism of the sport’s leadership from parts of the netball community.
The former AFL executive was appointed to the Netball Australia role in mid-2021 and has faced financial pressures during her tenure, citing more than $4m of debt earlier this year. Netball Australia’s (NA) executive general manager for performance, Stacey West, has been appointed acting chief executive officer.
Ryan said “the timing felt right to hand over the reins to a new leader”.
“During my time as CEO I have delivered on the objectives of the board,” she said in a statement.
“We overcame the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic to continue a national competition through border closures, experienced strong growth in the national competition, grew netball’s already strong participation numbers, and strengthened the games’ finances.
“Netball Australia has a wonderful team of people who work tirelessly for the benefit of the sport, and I thank them for their continued efforts and for their support.”
NA’s chair, Wendy Archer, said she was grateful for Ryan’s efforts.
“Kelly Ryan has made an enormous contribution to our sport in her time leading Netball Australia,” Archer said.
“She has shown great resilience and integrity during her leadership over her time as CEO.”
Ryan’s decision follows criticism targeted at leadership of the sport by prominent members of the netball community including former Diamonds captain Liz Ellis.
The Australian Netball Players’ Association and NA are finalising a new bargaining agreement for Super Netball players that has left them without pay for more than two months. An announcement is expected in coming days.
The federal government withdrew almost $18m in funding for NA last week after a business case submitted by the sport was deemed not “sufficiently robust”.
The money will now be redirected into a fund for women’s sport generally. Ryan said NA would re-apply.
West has spent 12 years at NA and has worked as a player, coach and selector within high performance programs in Australia and overseas.
NA and the sport’s elite players are expecting to announce within days a new pay deal that would end months of negotiations, following a positive week of discussions.
The agreement – which has largely been negotiated – is set to increase pay for players and provide a revenue share component that incentivises athletes to market themselves to potential sponsors.
