The Netball South Australia Premier League, also referred to as the Netball SA Premier League is a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

league organised by

Netball South Australia Netball South Australia is the governing body for netball in South Australia. It is affiliated to Netball Australia. It is responsible for organizing and managing the Netball South Australia Premier League as well as numerous other leagues and ...

. On a national level, the league is effectively a third level league, below

Suncorp Super Netball Suncorp Super Netball is the top level netball league featuring teams from Australia. In 2017 it replaced the ANZ Championship, which also included teams from New Zealand, as the top level netball league in Australia. Since 2019, the league has ...

and the

Australian Netball League The Australian Netball Championships, formerly the Australian Netball League, is an Australian netball competition. Since 2008 it has served as a second level competition, initially below the ANZ Championship and later below Suncorp Super Netb ...

. Between 2008 and 2014, when sponsored by Subway the league was known as the Subway Cup. Between 2015 and 2017 when it was sponsored by ''

Nine News ''Nine News'' (stylised ''9News'') is the national news service of the Nine Network in Australia. Its flagship program is the hour-long 6:00 pm state bulletin, produced by Nine's owned-and-operated stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, ...

'' it was known as the Nine News Netball Cup. Previous sponsors include

Dairy Farmers Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history th ...

and Farmers Union. During the 2010s the league has been dominated by two clubs,

Contax Contax (stylised as CONTAX in the Kyocera era) began as a German camera model in the Zeiss Ikon line in 1932, and later became a brand name. The early cameras were among the finest in the world, typically featuring high quality Zeiss intercha ...

and Matrics, who between them have won every Premier Division grand final since 2010.

History

Contax and Garville rivalry

In 1988, with a team that included

Michelle den Dekker Michelle den Dekker , also known as Michelle Fielke, is an Australian netballer from South Australia. den Dekker represented Australia in 84 tests between 1988 and 1995, including a record 71 as captain. She received the Medal of the Order of ...

and

Kathryn Harby Kathryn Harby-Williams (born 16 July 1969) is an Australian netball player and television presenter. She captained the Australian netball team. Harby-Williams currently works with Radio Sport New Zealand and is a Sky TV commentator for Sky S ...

won their fourth premiership, defeating Garville in the grand final. This marked the beginning a rivalry between Contax and Garville. Between 1986 and 1996 Contax and Garville contested every state league grand final. The rivalry saw the two clubs compete in nine consecutive state league grand finals, plus one

Mobil Super League The Esso Superleague, later known as the Mobil Superleague, was the top level national Australian netball league between 1985 and 1996. The league was Australia's first national netball league. It was organized by the All Australia Netball As ...

final, with both clubs winning five finals each. With a team that included Harby and

Julie Nykiel Julie Dawn Nykiel (born 13 December 1958) is a former Australian women's basketball player. Biography Basketball Nykiel played for the national team between 1979 and 1990, competing at two Olympic Games; 1984 and 1988.

, a former Australia women's basketball international, Contax won their fifth and sixth premierships in 1990 and 1991. Between 1992 and 1995 Garville won four successive state league grand finals before, a Contax team featuring

Jacqui Delaney Jacqui Delaney is a former Australia netball international. Between 1997 and 2002 she made 21 senior appearances for Australia. Delaney was a member of the Australia teams that won the gold medals at the 1999 World Netball Championships and th ...

won the club's seventh premiership in 1996.

Premier League era

In 2011 the state league was renamed the Premier League. Since this time,

main rival has been Matrics. Between them, Contax and Matrics played in every Premier League grand final during the decade winning 5 Premierships each.

Representative team

The

team

Southern Force The Battle of Leyte Gulf ( fil, Labanan sa golpo ng Leyte, lit=Battle of Leyte gulf; ) was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. It was fou ...

are effectively the representative team of the Netball South Australia Premier League. They are one of two teams that represent

in senior or national leagues. Their senior team,

Adelaide Thunderbirds Adelaide Thunderbirds are an Australian netball team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship and between 1997 and 2007, they played in ...

, has represented Netball South Australia in both the

ANZ Championship The ANZ Championship, also known as the Trans-Tasman Netball League, is a former netball league featuring teams from both Australia and New Zealand. Between 2008 and 2016, it was the top-level league in both countries. The competition was owned ...

and

. Southern Force are also 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 ...

of Thunderbirds.

Clubs

The 2020 league featured eight clubs, entering teams in two divisions – the Premier Division and Reserves Division.

Grand finals

Sponsorship

References

External links

Netball SA Premier League on Facebook
{{Netball leagues Netball in South Australia

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

Southern Force (netball)

Netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...