The wonderful world of netball

by Gen Simmons@gensimmons1

Contact…stepping…three feet…here if you need… all common netball terms that I’ve become quite accustomed to in my 15 months working in netball.

Beginning the role of Digital Communications Manager with the ANZ Championship netball league in February of last year I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I had played netball back at school so I knew the rules but I can’t say I followed the sport at the elite level. Boy has that changed now!

Last year I was thrown straight into the ANZ Championship Pre-Season in my first week of work and I quickly picked up on all I needed to know about the ten teams (five from Australia, five from New Zealand). By the time the 14 week season was underway I was able to reel off all 120 players and come the three week Finals Series I could tell you what all the players social media presence was like – ie. Caitlin Bassett LOVES cupcakes and Wendy Frew has the cutest little boy called Archie. Getting through my first season juggling a website, an ANZ Championship eNewsletter, a Facebook Page, two Twitter accounts, a YouTube channel and Instagram was quite a relief.

This season I’ve felt much more comfortable with the ANZ Championship and I’ve been a lot more involved in the communications plan for the season so that I know what’s coming. In 2014 I’ve also taken on the Netball Australia and Australian Diamonds digital channels as Digital Communications Manager for Netball Australia so there has still been plenty of learning.

Currently we’re in Round 12 of the ANZ Championship and with two more rounds before Finals we still don’t know who will actually be playing finals and where they will be. It certainly keeps things interesting but is a nightmare for the operations and events team to plan.

My big thing that I’ve been working on recently is the ANZ Championship All-Star voting platform (http://www.anz-championship.com/all-star) which launched last Friday and is a major fan engagement tool. The All-Star Team is 100% fan voted and adds another element to our weekly digital plan.

The ANZ Championship channels run pretty similarly week to week during the season with reviews on Tuesdays, previews on Thursdays and game posts Sunday and Monday. I’ve found the things I need to plan for are the Netball Australia and Diamonds channels so that they are keeping populated with interesting content.

With the Netball Australia channels we try to keep a more organisational view and showcase out pathway and junior programs plus the different ways we engage with the community. The Facebook Page for Netball Australia was only created last year so it’s still building slowly with our larger fan base on our Diamonds Facebook Page.

The Diamonds Facebook and social media channels focus just on the Diamonds and can be a little bit more fun than the more neutral Netball Australia and ANZ Championship pages. With the Diamonds Squad and the Australian Commonwealth Games Team announced recently we’ve been able to generate a lot of interest and discussion which has been great. A highlight was running a few Twitter Q&A sessions with National Coach Lisa Alexander which we hope to do some more of in future.

As you can see the world of netball is pretty busy but it’s a lot of fun to work in especially in the digital space where you’re right there communicating with the passionate netball fans. Make sure you’re keeping an eye on all our channels during the ANZ Championship Finals, Commonwealth Games and the Test Series later this year as we’ve got some pretty exciting things planned!

"What do you do in the 'off-season'?"

by Michelle Cooling

With another season finishing at the end of March, I finally have an off-season after 3 seasons in a row, two in Australia and one in England. Safe to say I was absolutely exhausted after a non-stop 18 months but over the three seasons some amazing moments both in Australia and in England.

A few snaps from the Ricky Ponting Medal

My numbers after back-to-back-to-back seasons! 101 matches,  Ashes, T20 Internationals, ODI, Shield Final, County Championships Final and Big Bash Final. Numerous tweets, match reports, Facebook and Insta posts!

Now comes the age old question, a question that gets asked of those who work in sport and a question I find quite amusing especially with the digital media world the way it is.

If I had a $1 for everytime I was asked "What do you do in the off-season?", I would be quite well off! It's also probably because I was in England last season and didn't have an off-season so people wonder what I will get up to, however I have actually been asked whether I keep my job in the winter...yes I do!

So for those wondering what us digital media, marketing and PR workers do in the off-season, the answer is simple: we basically do what we do in season it just isn't as full on!

We have websites and social media sites that need to keep running, we are essentially a news room so can't just go into hiding for 5 months.  Our players may not be in front of us playing but they are abroad or about to start pre-season again and there are always stories to share, it is just a matter of having to dig a bit deeper to find them which is ok because in the winter you actually have time to, well, breathe!

It is amazing how quickly the 'off-season' is actually going, we are already into May, it will be September again soon and we will be worrying about the Hurricanes in the Champions League, the Tigers starting their Sheffield Shield and Ryobi Cup campaigns and the nation hosting a World Cup.... all in a newly redeveloped Blundstone Arena.

There is also a lot of planning that goes on in the off-season, just like on the field, the off the field work can't just happen if you don't have plans in place.  Our off-season this year is particularly big as the Hurricanes qualified for the Champions League after making the Big Bash Final this year so our Operations guys have a fair bit on their plate.  The tournament dates and location are still yet to be confirmed but it looking likely it is September and likely it will be held in India.  As we get closer to this, those of us in the marketing and media department will also have a higher demand to make sure we get maximum reach out of this exposure opportunity.

The busiest time of the off-season is the KFC T20 Big Bash League player signings windows as each team looks to find ways to announce their new signings or those players who have re-signed. As I was away for this last season, I am looking forward to this time of the year again as it gets fans in the cricket mindset in the middle of winter and is always exciting to see the team come together alongside all the other Big Bash sides.

As I mentioned earlier, next summer is going to be even crazier with Australia and NZ hosting the Cricket World Cup. We are hosting 3 matches in Hobart including an Australian pool match alongside hosting nations Sri Lanka, Scotland, Ireland and Zimbabwe.  Our ground at the moment is currently a construction site with the new western stand facility set to be complete around October/November. It is going to be amazing once it is complete with the new stand, corporate and media facilities, underground indoor training centre and changerooms all part of the redevelopment at Blundstone Arena. In the next week or so I am going to take a go-pro and some cameras into the site- so keep an eye out on social media for that video! So with the World Cup around the corner, getting public awareness around this event is another task for the off-season.

The Cricket World Cup comes to Australia and NZ next season which will mean an even busier 2014-15 summer!

Blundstone Arena- a construction site at the moment but it is exciting what this will look like in coming months!

So as you can see there is still plenty to be done in the "off-season" however being a bit quieter and not having work every week-end is also quite a nice thing and leaves time for other parts of my life, (mainly hockey!) to take place. As well as hockey I am also studying fitness, my Certificate 3 and 4, so putting aside a day a week (and my lunch times because getting a proper lunch break in the off season is also very handy!) to go back into study mode, which is quite strange after 4 years in the working world. I can't see myself changing careers anytime soon, but love my fitness and want to assist others with my passion for this so can pursue this outside of my normal work hours.

On a final note, I hope everyone is enjoying football season (#gocats) and I hope to have some of the girls who work in AFL feature on the blog in coming weeks!