Sunbury Lions coach Stacey West officially has the biggest role in Australian netball, appointed Netball Australia’s new chief executive.
West, who has been the interim chief executive since mid-December, was last week appointed to the role full time.
West became interim CEO in mid-December after four years as the Netball Australia performance executive general manager where she was responsible for all aspects of the sport’s talent pathway program and ensuring the Australian Diamonds remained the world’s number-one ranked netball team.
Before joining Netball Australia 13 years ago, West gained extensive experience as a player, coach and selector within high performance netball programs both domestically and internationally, entering Netball Australia’s pathway as an athlete herself at a young age and continuing her involvement as an elite coach, selector, and administrator.
Ms West said she was deeply honoured to lead Netball Australia and excited about delivering the sport’s strategic objectives.
“Netball is a wonderful community and an enormous passion of mine. I am deeply committed to working closely with everyone to ensure the sport grows strongly,’’ Ms West said.
“The focus of Netball Australia is growing participation beyond our current 1.2 million participants, continuing to enhance our competitions, work closely with governments, and growing our commercial partnerships to guarantee the financial sustainability of the game into the future.”
“Netball has deep roots in every community around the nation and we have played a critical role supporting and inspiring generations of women and girls. Netball will continue to lead, and we have a renewed focus supporting First Nations and inclusiveness.’’
“This is an exciting time for netball as we move towards celebrating our centenary in three years, a highlight which will be the hosting of the 2027 Netball World Cup.”
Netball Australia chair Wendy Archer said West has proven her strong leadership skills as interim chief executive and has a clear and exciting vision for the future growth of netball in Australia.
“Stacey is from our sport, and she knows our sport,” she said. “Stacey’s extensive netball experience and passion for the game, combined with a strong strategic focus and ability to build and maintain strong relationships, makes her the ideal appointment to this position.’’
“Stacey leads a united team, from the grassroots to the elite levels, committed to the continued success of netball in Australia. We have had a record-breaking start to the Suncorp Super Netball season with soaring broadcast viewership and attendance at games and strong support from our valued commercial partners.
“The board looks forward to working closely with Stacey, the entire team at Netball Australia, our member organisations, clubs and the Australian Netball Players’ Association as we continue the growth of the game.’’
West is currently the Sunbury Lions B-grade and C-grade coach in the Ballarat Netball League.
