An experienced sport's leader says a special general meeting called within the Waikato Bay of Plenty zone over concerns with Netball New Zealand's governance reflects growing frustration in the netball community.
But there's been no indication from the other four netball zones in New Zealand that they will back the WBOP zone.
The Tauranga and Whakatane Netball Centres have initiated a Special General Meeting of the WBOP zone this Sunday over frustrations with NNZ and its leadership.
Concerns include uncertainly around the future of the ANZ Premiership, the lack of a broadcast deal beyond 2026, and the recent suspension of Dame Noeline Taurua as Silver Ferns' coach.
Dame Noeline, who lives 40 minutes down the road from Tauranga, has since been reinstated but the very public fall-out between the veteran coach and Netball NZ dominated headlines for weeks.
In October, former Silver Ferns' selector Gail Parata said that "heads need to roll" over Taurua's suspension.
Tauranga Netball Centre board chair Nicola Compton said the handling of the coaching situation was the final straw and believed the Netball NZ Board and CEO had questions to answer.
Compton wants the zone to force a Special General Meeting of Netball NZ to "express serious questions around the strategic leadership of Netball New Zealand".
Compton is confident the WBOP zone will vote in favour of calling for an SGM but under the Netball NZ constitution two other zones would need to do the same thing to actually force it.
Netball New Zealand CEO Jennie Wyllie has been in the firing line by netball fans, angry at what they believe was the poor treatment of Taurua. The Netball NZ board, who effectively employ Wyllie, has also come under immense criticism.
Compton said they had had some informal discussions with other zones.
Gary Dawson, a former Waikato Rugby and Chiefs chief executive, was brought in by Netball New Zealand to assist the Magic in 2021 when the zone got into financial difficulties.
The Netball WBOP Zone's board was disbanded, with governance responsibilities instead handed to Netball New Zealand, and Dawson was appointed as interim general manager of the Magic.
Dawson has since taken a step back but is still involved with the region's ANZ Premiership team as its Team Relationship manager. The Magic and Waikato Bay of Plenty Zone remain separate entities, both under the administration of Netball NZ.
Dawson said the last 12 months had not been good for netball.
"I know that people who are involved with the game at the grass roots level and even at the high performance level, it's getting to the point where people are quite frustrated that there doesn't seem to really be a resolution or a positive plan to move forward. I think what we're seeing from the Waikato Bay of Plenty zone is that frustration coming out in the form of a meeting to really see if they can get things changed," Dawson said.
Is it more personal for the zone given that Dame Noeline coached the Magic team for several years and lives in the region?
"There's a little bit of that but I think the wider issues from what I understand is that in the wider interests of netball in New Zealand they feel there are some serious issues that need to be addressed."
Dawson said he talks to a large number of people in his day to day work from the grass roots to people in senior positions in netball.
"Some of the common themes that come through is the issues that have been widely publicised both with Dame Noeline but also with the ANZ Premiership players going off-shore, the broadcast deal. I think the general feeling of everybody involved with netball is it's not doing netball any good at all, the reputational damage is quite huge and the financial cost is quite significant as well."
In a statement, Netball Northern Zone board chair Mary Gardiner said the zone was continuing to work constructively with Netball NZ.
"We like many are concerned about recent events in netball and we are working directly with the Netball NZ Board.
"Our preference is to have respectful, face to face conversations with Netball NZ, and I will continue to meet regularly with Board Chair, Matt Whineray. As the owner of the Northern Mystics, one of our key priorities is to collaborate with Netball NZ along with other Zones and ANZP teams to ensure that the ANZ Premiership is a success in 2026 and long into the future," Gardiner said.
"We are aware that some of our Centres have their own concerns, and we will also make sure that these are shared with Netball NZ."
Netball South chairman Dean Johnston said the board of Netball South was aware of WBOPs Special General Meeting.
"We are in regular contact with Netball New Zealand's board chair as we continue to progress constructive discussions about the future of the sport," Johnston said.
Netball Central zone had "no comments" to make on the matter, while Netball Mainland has not responded to a request for comment.
Compton said part of the concern was the lack of communication from the national body - "What's happening, why is it happening, and what's the plan, and that's not what we're getting."
The Northern Mystics, Central Pulse, and Southern Steel ANZ Premiership teams are run and managed by their zones. But Netball NZ had to step in a support the Magic and Tactix, which went into liquidation in 2020.
The South Auckland based Stars are also propped up by Netball NZ but are unique in that the franchise was established in 2017 and does not come under a zone.
The SGM on Sunday needs 51 percent of the 23 centres in the zone to attend and a simple majority to pass any resolution.
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