Sunshine Coast Lightning are an Australian netball team based at the

University of the Sunshine Coast The University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) is a public university based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. After opening with 524 students in 1996 as the Sunshine Coast University College, it was later renamed the University of the ...

. The team was formed in

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 ...

as a joint venture between the university and

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

. Since

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

they have played in

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 ...

. Lightning have played in three grand finals, winning premierships in 2017 and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

History

New franchise

Sunshine Coast Lightning v West Coast Fever 2017-05-12 20

In May 2016,

Netball Australia Netball Australia is the main governing body for netball in Australia. It is affiliated to World Netball. It is responsible for organising and administrating the Australia national netball team, Suncorp Super Netball and the Australian Nati ...

and

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 ...

announced that 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 ...

would be discontinued after the 2016 season. In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

it was replaced by Suncorp Super Netball. The founding members of Suncorp Super Netball included the five former Australian ANZ Championship teams –

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 ...

Melbourne Vixens Melbourne Vixens is an Australian netball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Victoria in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. The team was formed in 2007 ...

New South Wales Swifts New South Wales Swifts are an Australian netball team based in Sydney, New South Wales. Since 2017 they have represented Netball New South Wales in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. The team was ...

Queensland Firebirds Queensland Firebirds are an Australian netball team based in Brisbane, Queensland. 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 the C ...

and

West Coast Fever West Coast Fever is an Australian netball team based in Perth, Western Australia. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they competed in the ANZ Championship. Between 1997 and 2007, as Perth Orioles, t ...

; plus three brand new franchises:

Collingwood Magpies The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The club w ...

Giants Netball Giants Netball (stylised as GIANTS Netball) are an Australian netball team based in Greater Western Sydney, New South Wales. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. The team was formed in 2016 as a joint venture between Netball N ...

and Sunshine Coast Lightning. In August 2016, Sunshine Coast Lightning was officially launched. The team was formed as a joint venture by

and the

with the support of Sunshine Coast Council. The colours of the team - navy blue, purple and yellow - are the same as the Storm's. The logo features a bolt of lightning.

Noeline Taurua era

Before the official launch of Sunshine Coast Lightning,

Noeline Taurua Dame Noeline Taurua (born 26 March 1968) is a New Zealand international netball coach and former representative player. She is currently head coach of the New Zealand national netball team, the Silver Ferns. Early life Taurua was born in Pa ...

had already been announced as the inaugural head coach of the new franchise. In September 2016,

Caitlin Bassett Caitlin Bassett (born 23 May 1988) is a former Australian netballer, who played for Giants Netball and the Australia national netball team. Between 2017 and 2021 Bassett captained Australia in international netball tests. Career Caitlin played ...

and

Stephanie Wood Stephanie Wood (born 28 November 1991), also known as Steph Wood, is an Australia netball international. Wood was a member of the Australia teams that won the silver medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and at the 2019 Netball World Cup. Betw ...

became the first two Lightning players.

Geva Mentor Geva Kate Mentor CBE (born 17 September 1984) is an England netball international. She has competed in 6 Commonwealth Games: and in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games she was honoured to read, during the Opening Ceremony, The Athletes Oath ...

also subsequently signed for Lightning. In February 2017, Mentor was named captain of the new franchise. In

, Lightning finished the season as inaugural champions after defeating

65–48 in the grand final. In

they retained the title after defeating

62–59 in the grand final. In

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, Lightning finished the regular season as minor premiers. They also played in their third successive grand final but this time, they were defeated by

. After three seasons as head coach at Lightning, Taurua resigned and was replaced by her assistant at the club, Kylee Byrne.

Regular season statistics

Grand finals

Home venues

Lightning play the majority of their home matches at

USC Stadium USC Stadium is a multi-purpose indoor sports facility located on the Sippy Downs campus of the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. The stadium hosts netball, basketball, volleyball and futsal events for professional athletes and stu ...

. They have also occasionally played home matches at the

Brisbane Entertainment Centre The Brisbane Entertainment Centre is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Brisbane suburb of Boondall, Queensland, Australia. The centre is managed by ASM Global. The arena has an array of seating plans which facilitate the comfort of ...

Notable players

2023 squad

Internationals

; ; *

Kate Shimmin Kate Walsh (née Shimmin; born in 1992) is an Australian netball player in the Suncorp Super Netball league, playing for the Sunshine Coast Lightning. In August 2019, Jess Thirlby the new England Roses Coach announced Shimmin would join the ...

; *

; * Kadie-Ann Dehaney ; *

Laura Langman Laura Robyn Langman (born 16 April 1986) is a retired New Zealand international netball player, who last played domestic netball for the Sunshine Coast Lightning in the Australian Super Netball league. Primarily a midcourt player, Langman is ...

* Erena Mikaere ; *

Phumza Maweni Phumza Maweni (born September 4, 1984) is a South African netball player in the Netball Superleague in the UK, representing Team Bath (netball), Team Bath Netball. Maweni was raised in Cala, Eastern Cape, Cala, in the Eastern Cape of South Afric ...

Karla Pretorius Karla Pretorius (née Mostert; born 12 March 1990) is a South African netball player, currently playing for the Sunshine Coast Lightning and the South Africa SPAR Proteas Netball. She plays in the positions of Goal Defence (GD) and Wing Defence ...

; *

Peace Proscovia Peace Proscovia Drajole Agondua (born 1 November 1989), commonly known as Peace Proscovia and nicknamed "Warid Tower", is a professional Ugandan netball player for Surrey Storm and the current captain of the Uganda national team. She began he ...

Captains

Award winners

Suncorp Super Netball

Lightning awards

;

Shooting statistics

Head coaches

Reserve teams

;Territory Storm Between 2017 and 2019 Sunshine Coast Lightning formed a partnership with Territory Storm of the Australian Netball League. Storm were effectively Lightning's

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 ...

. In 2019, with a team featuring Lightning players

Cara Koenen Cara Koenen (born 27 February 1996) is an Australian netball player in the Suncorp Super Netball league, playing for the Sunshine Coast Lightning. Koenan was a foundation player at the Lightning ahead of the club's inaugural season in 2017. She ...

Annika Lee-Jones Annika Lee-Jones (born 31 October 1996) is an Australian netball player in the Suncorp Super Netball league, playing for the Sunshine Coast Lightning. Lee-Jones debuted in the inaugural season (2017) of Super Netball at the West Coast Fever, th ...

, and

Jacqui Russell Jacqui Russell (born 1 August 1988) is an Australian netball player in the Suncorp Super Netball league, playing for the Sunshine Coast Lightning. Russell began her netball career at the Queensland Firebirds in the ANZ Championship, where she pl ...

, Storm enjoyed one of their best seasons in the ANL, winning six matches and finishing fifth. ;USC Thunder Since 2019, USC Thunder have played in the

HART Sapphire Series The HART Sapphire Series is a state netball league featuring teams from Queensland. The league is organised by Netball Queensland. The current semi-professional league was first played for during the 2019 season. It replaced earlier state league ...

. They were formed as a partnership between Sunshine Coast Lightning and the

. They play home games at the

. ;Capital Darters In 2019 it was announced that Sunshine Coast Lightning had formed a partnership with

Capital Darters Netball Australian Capital Territory is the governing body for netball in the Australian Capital Territory. It is affiliated to Netball Australia. It is responsible for organizing and managing the association's representative teams including Cap ...

. Darters were due to play in the 2020 Australian Netball League season. However the season was cancelled due to 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 ...

. ;Australian Netball Championships In September 2021, Sunshine Coast Lightning were due to enter a reserve team in the inaugural

Australian Netball Championships 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 ...

tournament. However, this tournament was cancelled due to the

. Lightning's ANC team subsequently played in a four team series, playing against

Queensland Sapphires Queensland Sapphires are an Australian netball team that represents Netball Queensland in the Australian Netball Championships. Between 2008 and 2019, as Queensland Fusion, they played in the Australian Netball League. Sapphires are effective ...

, the Queensland Suns

men's netball On the club, national and international level, men's netball teams exist, but attract less attention than women's netball. Mixed teams are not uncommon in Australia and are very popular. Men's national teams do exist in Antigua & Barbuda, Austr ...

team and PacificAus Sports, a

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

select.

Premierships

**''Winners'':

**''Runners Up'':

**''Minor Premierships'':

References

External links

Official website
{{Queensland Sports Teams Suncorp Super Netball teams Netball teams in Australia Netball teams in Queensland Melbourne Storm University of the Sunshine Coast Sport in the Sunshine Coast, Queensland Sports clubs established in 2016 2016 establishments in Australia