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One lousy week to go until the World Number One, Australian Netball Diamonds, take on Scotland and yet there will be no television coverage of this match or the February 16 game.
It's no mean feat to be number in the world but this obviously doesn't mean much to Australian television broadcasters.
It's a big year in netball, with the third ANZ Championship, international test series against Scotland, England and Jamaica and the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Is it really that much to ask for television broadcasters to play a lousy two games of netball - two hours of netball for an international netball series.

Yet we have to endure hours and hours of non-stop cricket, football etc. The Geelong Cats/Saints 2009 AFL Grand Final match was even replayed this weekend on Channel One. Yet there's no space for a CURRENT INTERNATIONAL SERIES involving the WORLD NUMBER ONE team, the Australian Netball Diamonds.
I bet you if the girls played half naked or fully naked then there would be coverage.
It is absolutely absurd that you have such a high quality series that doesn't get any coverage whatsoever in a country that thrives on sport.
It is unbelievable. We want to watch the netball, it's not that much to ask for. There's plenty of netball supporters in this country. Why are we being ignored?

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Posted By: Bec 1 - Category: No Category

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Finally some news

February 3rd 2010 11:51

With only days to go, finally there has been an announcement on the broadcasting schedule for the Australian Netball Diamonds vs England Test matches.
Unfortunately, it seems the Diamonds vs Scotland Test series is not worth broadcasting.
I must say that at least Channel 10 are finally broadcasting the Australia vs England games live. It's a pity it's once again in the early hours of the morning but we must appreciate they are live games being played in England.
In saying that One will repeat the games at a more decent hour giving Australians an opportunity to cheer for their highly talented netball team.

The world number three team, England, is really stepping up as a major contender for the gold medal at this year's Commonwealth Games. The young Diamonds, who will replace the more senior players like Sharelle McMahon, Julie Corletto and Catherine Cox will really need to step up for Australia to show the world what great depth we have in the Australian team.
Well done Channels 10 and One for finally taking a stand and putting netball on their program lists but we also want to watch how our girls go against Scotland.

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Posted By: Bec 1 - Category: No Category

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Wake up to yourselves

January 23rd 2010 08:29

Netball Australia announced on Thursday the SOPA Cup, which will involve all of the Australian ANZ Championship teams and two New Zealand teams. This is a pre-tournament and a great way to see top quality netball players in action on the one weekend.
It is disappointing though that organsiers don't give workers an opportunity to attend the event. I, for one, would absolutely love to go, but with only finding out on Thursday, it is impossible for me to request holidays in time for the tournament on March 5, 6 and 7.
A lot of employees need to request their holidays 12 months in advance. Why are netball events normally only announced maybe a month or two before? If I had known the dates of the SOPA Cup in November, I would have been able to convince my employer to grant permission for my holidays during this time because it would have given them a few months to find a replacement for me.
With only weeks notice, organisers have limited themselves to mainly Sydney residents, instead of giving all Australians an opportunity to attend such a wonderful event.
Then they wonder why netball in this country has not received the attention that it deserves. Organise it as a professional event. It's not like it depends on who are the minor premiers to host the event. It is a pre-season tournament that the dates could have been finalised months ago.
Give people a chance to support this absoloutely wonderful event. I am so bitterly disappointed; with notice there would be absolutely nothing that would have stopped me for going the whole three days.
I bet you there won't even be coverage of the whole tournament on t.v. So I'll have to totally miss out on something that I was totally prepared to spend thousands of dollars in travelling and accomodation costs to attend. That is how much I love netball and netball organsiers are stopping this from happening. Wake up to yourselves, start being professional when organising such events.

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Where's the news

January 20th 2010 09:28

With just over three weeks to go before the Australian Netball Diamonds take on Scotland in a two-game series followed by three matches against England, there is still very little news.
The main questions are will all the games be broadcasted on Channel 10 or One and if so what time or is it going to be another case that if we are lucky that Channel 10 or One consider these international games worthy of being broadcasted that they will be shown at a ridiculous late hour?
This country needs to lift the profile of netball and get behind our highly talented netballers. Netball is considered as the second top sport in New Zealand, just behind rugy. Yet New Zealand are not world number one, Australia is, and we are a lot bigger country than New Zealand. So why is Australia so far behind the times? We still don't have professional netballers because of the low amount our great netballers get paid. They work just as hard as other professional sportsman and women, yet just because they are netballers, they don't earn anywhere near the amount that other athletes do

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Posted By: Bec 1 - Category: No Category

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Diamonds to take on England

January 18th 2010 10:47

England showed they are a developing netball side at the World Netball Series in Machester last year.
Normally in the top three or four in the world, England took it to the world superpowers of netball, Australia (Number 1) and New Zealand (Number 2), in the round robin competition of the World Netball Series.
However, they were unable to continue their winning form in the finals

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Scotland here we come

January 17th 2010 04:54

After 22 years, the Australian netball team will travel to Scotland to play a two-game series in February. The Aussies have won every one of their 13 games against the world number 13, but this year, the games are set to be more competitive with five Australian senior squad members including captain Sharelle McMahon, Julie Corletto, Catherine Cox, Susan Fuhrmann and Lauren Nourse all unable to play.
This is obviously a concern with the Commonwealth Games just around the corner. Four of the five squad members are in rehabilitation. And people reckon netball is not a tough sport!
At least the Australian Netball Diamonds have depth in their bench, allowing the younger Diamonds to step up and get Australia over the line on February 14 and 16

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Why is sport so male-dominated?

January 16th 2010 05:42

In the last couple of days I've been unable to create a new post because I've been quite annoyed. I received an email on Wednesday to say that I've been granted a promotion to my own domain for this blog. This news should have made me happy and it did. But when I went though the list to come up with a suitable domain name, this is when I started to boil up and get cranky. Once again the vast majority of inactive blogs were about male-dominated sport, in particular football.
Why is sport so male-dominated? Don't get me wrong, I love men's sport, but I love sport for what it is. I watch NRL and most of the time enjoy it except for the constant fighting. Most sports, except cricket and golf, I can sit down, relax and enjoy.
Speaking of golf, look at the coverage that Tiger Woods has received of late. He has no respect for women but just because he's a talented golfer, he takes over the news

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Who will win the 2010 ANZ Championship - Part 10

January 13th 2010 10:17

I think this year's surprise package in the ANZ Championship will be the Northern Mystics. The Mystics have the most noticable changes with Jade Topia the only player to move to another side in the ANZ Championship. After playing two years with the Mystics, Topia will play for Southern Steel.
But in saying that the Northern Mystics have been able to attract some very talented players this season including Joline Henry and Maria Tutaia, both played for Magic in 2008 and 2009.
Tutaia, a shooter with the Silver Ferns since 2005, won a gold medal at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games

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Who will win the 2010 ANZ Championship - Part 9

January 12th 2010 11:42

Can the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic continue to be in the top few teams in the ANZ Championship or even improve on past performances and win the title for the first time? I think it will be a harder task for them this year considering the number of changes to the team.
Jodi Brown (Tactix 2009), Kahurangi Waititi (Pulse 2008 and Tactix 2009), Peta Scholz, Amy Christophers and Tanya Lund have joined the Magic but at the expense of highly talented players Joline Henry and Maria Tutaia who will play for the Northern Mystics and Leana de Bruin, the Southern Steel.
de Bruin has won a gold and silver medal at the Netball World Championships and a gold at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. She played for her country of birth, South Africa, before moving to New Zealand and being selected onto the Silver Ferns team

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Who will win the ANZ Championship - Part 8

January 10th 2010 02:40

Southern Steel should have a better season this year with the addition of Leana de Bruin (Magic 2008 and 2009) and the return of Megan Dehn, who played for the Steel in 2008.
Jade Topia (Mystics 2008 and 2009), Emma Moynihan and Hayley Saunders have joined this New Zealand team but at the expense of Leah Shoard (West Coast Fever), Katrina Grant (Central Pulse), and Jenny-May Coffin (Northern Mystics). Coffin didn't play in the 2009 ANZ Championship but was a member of the Steel in 2008.
Southern Steel have been able to retain talented players such as Liana Barrett-Chase, Sheryl Scanlan and Daneka Wipiiti, but this will not be enough to set up the Steel as a title winner. There are too many other teams in the ANZ Championship of better quality.

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