Netball will "launch an immediate search" for business leaders and identities for new roles as the sport "breaks ground" with the establishment of an independent commission to run the Suncorp Super Netball competition, according to John Stensholt of THE AUSTRALIAN. The sport wants to have the commission in place by the start of the '19 Super Netball season in late March and "will recruit six independent directors for the seven-person board to run the competition." Netball Australia CEO Marne Fechner will also join the commission, which has been "styled at least in part on the powerful" Australian Football League commission, which oversees the country’s "most lucrative sport." Fechner described the commission as a "turning point for the sport" and said that commission members "would be targeted for their expertise in growing the commercial side of netball." She said, "The vision for Suncorp Super Netball is to be the top sporting league for women worldwide, and to achieve that we need to put the necessary structures and resources in place." Super Netball will "remain wholly owned" by Netball Australia, but the commission will be given the powers to self-govern and "lead its own operations." Netball Australia will appoint five directors, one of whom is Fechner, and the commission will appoint another two (THE AUSTRALIAN, 1/11).
