OVER the past two years there has been a concerted push to attract A League and Big Bash teams to Canberra.

We have shown that Canberra is a great city to host major sporting events (despite lacking some large-crowd facilities) and we have a population that engages actively in many different sports.

Previously, international games involving the Australian team have sold out within an hour, demonstrating that there is clearly significant support for the sport in the ACT.

Canberra is the spiritual home of netball in Australia with the AIS being the team’s base for 30 years. Despite this connection, we can’t get a regular test nor a look-in as the base for a team in the Trans-Tasman Netball League.

The league is currently a 10-team competition with five from NZ and five from Australia. Canberra, Darwin and Hobart are the cities not represented. If there was to be an additional team in Australia, it would also require another from NZ to maintain the symmetry.

There is a strong argument as to why Canberra should be that next team from Australia.

The size of Canberra and the catchment area alone presents a compelling case. In NZ, teams are based in Hamilton and Invercargill. Both cities have population bases well below the ACT’s 380,000+ people.

In the end it comes down to profitability. Canberra needs to prove it’s no longer a graveyard for national league teams.

ACT Netball is developing a business case to have a team in every major competition and league in Australia by 2018 including the Trans-Tasman Netball League.

To ensure sustainability, ACT Netball would need to forge an alliance with an organisation such as the University of Canberra. 

I have no doubt support would be there from spectators. Clearly, it is a popular sport in terms of participation in weekend competitions, providing a strong base for ACT Netball to pursue its case.

Raising sponsorship could be a challenge, but it is a market that hasn’t really been tested before.

Another aspect to this is a venue. The AIS Arena is regarded by many as too small to stage regular international games. Netball Australia has made it clear it needs a bigger venue to make it viable to play internationals here on a regular basis.

It raises an obvious question about the proposed indoor stadium in Civic. Apart from being the home for the Brumbies and the Raiders, could it also be reconfigured to host sports such as netball, basketball and tennis?

If so, it makes the indoor stadium an increasingly attractive option.