Netball Mainland Zone has confirmed today that the organisation has recommended to its members that it be placed in voluntary liquidation, citing the financial impact of COVID-19.
Board spokesperson Darren Wright says that due to the ongoing effects of COVID-19, Netball Mainland has been placed under unprecedented financial pressure.
“There has been a massive amount of work by the Netball Mainland Board and staff to get the organisation into a positive position in 2020, however with the financial impact of COVID-19 Netball Mainland could not continue. It was a very difficult decision for Netball Mainland but after undertaking a thorough review of its financial position and regrettably with there being no certainty as to when both community and high-performance games will resume, the difficult decision has been made to liquidate, Wright says.
“Before making this decision, Netball Mainland explored a number of potential alternatives, including Netball New Zealand, but none were able to help in the current environment. Whilst understanding the position of Netball New Zealand, we are extremely disappointed to have to make this call, particularly with this being such devastating news for our centres, staff, and team.”
Netball NZ chief executive Jennie Wyllie says the liquidation shows just what a significant financial impact COVID-19 is having on all businesses in New Zealand.
“Our hearts go out to the Mainland Board and their staff, Netball NZ will now work through a process of how the ongoing management and servicing of the game will work. These are challenging times and businesses are having to re-think their structures for both now and the future. We know our Netball Centres are well placed to maintain our community game and we will be working with them to ensure the future of local Netball.”
Netball Mainland has 18 affiliated netball centres spread across the Nelson, Marlborough, West Coast and Canterbury areas and has in excess of 22,000 players.