The National Netball League is a New Zealand netball league. Since

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

it has served as a second-level league, initially below the ANZ Championship and later below the ANZ Premiership. It is organised by

Netball New Zealand Netball New Zealand is the national body which oversees, promotes and manages netball in New Zealand, including the Silver Ferns. In 2019, 137,713 players were registered with Netball New Zealand, the governing body for organised netball in the co ...

. Between 2016 and 2020, due to

sponsorship Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...

and

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

arrangements, the NNL was known as the Beko Netball League. Since 2022, the league has been sponsored by Synergy Hair and, as a result, it is also known as the Synergy Hair National League. The teams in the competition are effectively the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

s of ANZ Premiership teams. Netball South won the inaugural title in 2016. Central Zone/Central Manawa have been the league's most successful team, winning three titles in a row between 2017 and 2019. A limited number of matches are broadcast live on

Sky Sport (New Zealand) Sky Sport is a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by New Zealand's satellite pay-TV company, Sky. History Sky Sport 1 is the original Sky Television sport channel in New Zealand. It was first introduced in 1990 as Sky Spor ...

History

Foundation

The National Netball League was founded in

. Netball South won the inaugural title after defeating

Central Zone The Central Indo-Aryan languages or Hindi languages are a group of related language Variety (linguistics), varieties Spoken across North India and Central India. These language varieties form the central part of the Indo-Aryan language family, ...

51–46 in the grand final at

The Trusts Arena The Trusts Arena is an indoor arena located in Henderson, New Zealand, Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand. It is a multi-purpose stadium that primarily holds sports events and music concerts. The Arena was opened by then Prime Minister of New Ze ...

. At the 2016 New Zealand Netball Awards, Netball South winning the inaugural title was named Moment of the Year.

Central three titles

Between 2017 and 2019, Central Zone/Central Manawa won three successive titles. After finishing as runners up in 2016, Central Zone won their first title in 2017. With a team featuring

Karin Burger Karin Burger (born 12 April 1993) is a New Zealand netball international. She was a member of the New Zealand teams that won the 2019 Netball World Cup and the 2021 Constellation Cup. Burger has also played for both Central Pulse and Mainland T ...

Kimiora Poi Kimiora Poi (born 1 November 1997) is a New Zealand netball international. She was a member of the New Zealand teams that won the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup, the 2018 Fast5 Netball World Series and the 2021 Constellation Cup. Since 2018, P ...

and

Tiana Metuarau Tiana Metuarau (born 15 January 2001) is a New Zealand netball international. Between 2017 and 2020, she was a prominent member of the Central Pulse team that won the 2018 Super Club title and the 2019 and 2020 ANZ Premiership titles. In 202 ...

, Central Zone defeated Hellers Netball Mainland 43–41 in the grand final. They completed a three in a row after retaining the title in both 2018 and 2019.

COVID-19 pandemic

On 27 March 2020,

announced that the Beko Netball League had been cancelled for 2020 because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. On 21 July, with the support and backing of

Sport New Zealand Sport New Zealand (Sport NZ) (Māori: ''Ihi Aotearoa'') is a New Zealand Crown entity responsible for governing sport and recreation in New Zealand. Sport NZ believes sport is an integral part of New Zealand's culture and way of life. The org ...

, it was announced that a modified 2020 season would take place in August. A single round of matches would be played over three consecutive weekends in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

and

Te Aroha Te Aroha ( mi, Te Aroha-a-uta) is a rural town in the Waikato region of New Zealand with a population of 3,906 people in the 2013 census, an increase of 138 people since 2006. It is northeast of Hamilton and south of Thames. It sits at the f ...

. However, due to another shift in COVID-19 alert levels in August, Netball New Zealand announced that the revised 2020 Beko Netball League was also cancelled.

Teams

The five founding five members of the National Netball League were effectively the

s of the five

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

ANZ Championship teams –

Central Pulse Central Pulse are a New Zealand netball team based in Wellington. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Central in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Central is the governing body that r ...

Mainland Tactix Mainland Tactix are a netball in New Zealand, New Zealand netball team based in Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury. Between 1998 and 2007, as Canterbury Flames, they played in the National Bank Cup, Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cu ...

Northern Mystics Northern Mystics are a New Zealand netball team based in Auckland. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Northern in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Northern is the governing body tha ...

Southern Steel Southern Steel are a New Zealand netball team based in Invercargill. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball South in the ANZ Premiership. Netball South is the governing body that re ...

and

Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic are a New Zealand netball team based in Hamilton. Between 1999 and 2007, they played in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017, Magic have ...

. When the ANZ Championship was replaced in New Zealand by the ANZ Premiership, it featured a sixth team,

Northern Stars Northern Stars are a New Zealand netball team based in South Auckland. Since 2017 they have competed in the ANZ Premiership. The team was named after the Matariki star cluster which is also featured on the team's logo. They were grand finalist ...

. The National Netball League also gained a sixth team, Northern Comets. ;Notes * Between 2016 and 2018

Central Manawa Central Manawa are a New Zealand netball team based in Wellington. Since 2016 they have represented Netball Central in the National Netball League. Netball Central is the governing body that represents the Hawke's Bay, Manawatū-Whanganui, T ...

played as Central Zone. * Southern Blast originally played as Netball South

Grand Finals

;Notes * The 2020 season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand The COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first case of the disease in New Zealand was reported on 28 February 2 ...

Awards

Player of the Year

Television coverage

Since 2016, a limited number of matches, including grand finals, have been broadcast live on

Main sponsors

References

{{Netball leagues ! 2016 establishments in New Zealand Sports leagues established in 2016