Netball Central, Sydney
# Netball Central, Sydney

Netball Central is an Australian netball venue located in Sydney Olympic Park, New South Wales. Between 2016 and 2018, due to a naming rights arrangement, it was known as the Genea Netball Centre. The venue is owned by Netball New South Wales. It serves as their headquarters and as the main training base for New South Wales Swifts and Giants Netball. It was a host venue for the 2015 Netball World Cup and the 2018 Invictus Games. As well as netball, Netball Central regularly hosts martial arts, volleyball, table tennis, badminton and basketball tournaments and competitions.

## History

### Construction

In February 2011, Netball New South Wales announced their plans to build a new Netball Centre of Excellence in Sydney Olympic Park. Construction work began on the projection in 2013, with the "turning of the sod" taking place on Sunday, 17 February 2013. The architects were Scott Carver Architects and the builder was Probuild, while the Arup Group acted as consultants. Netball Central was the first sports facility to be built at the park since the 2000 Summer Olympics. Located on Olympic Boulevard, it was built on land in front of the State Sports Centre. One of its most distinctive features is a gable-roofed portal frame of laminated veneer lumber. The finished project cost $35m and was funded by the Australian Government, the Government of New South Wales, the Sydney Olympic Park Authority and Netball New South Wales.

### Opening

On Monday, 1 December 2014, Netball New South Wales moved into Netball Central. It was officially opened on 6 February 2015 with a ceremony attended by Wendy Archer, the Netball NSW President, Carolyn Campbell, the Netball NSW CEO, Stuart Ayres, a Government of New South Wales minister and Craig Laundy, the Member of Parliament for Reid. It was originally due to be officially opened in December 2014 but was the ceremony was cancelled due to the Lindt Cafe siege.

During its first year open, Netball Central hosted three major netball tournaments. In February 2015 New South Wales Swifts hosted the 2015 ANZ Championship Official Pre-Season Summer Shootout. The tournament featured all ten ANZ Championship teams. This was the first major netball tournament to be held at the venue. In April 2015, Netball Central hosted the under-17 and under-19 Australian National Netball Championships tournaments. New South Wales finished as under-19 champions and as under-17 runners-up. In August 2015 Netball Central was a host venue for the 2015 Netball World Cup. It was the official training venue for all sixteen participating teams. It also hosted pool matches, play-offs and placing games.

### Tenants

Netball Central serves as the headquarters for Netball New South Wales and as the main training base for New South Wales Swifts and Giants Netball.

Between 2015 and 2019, Netball Central regularly hosted Australian Netball League matches. Both NNSW Waratahs and Canberra Giants played home matches at the venue. The venue also hosted the 2016 ANL Final Series. In the grand final Waratahs lost 53–46 to Victorian Fury.

Since 2016, Netball Central has been the host venue for the Netball NSW Premier League. It also hosts numerous other netball competitions organised by Netball New South Wales, including the Dooleys Metro League.

In 2016, Sydney Warriors and Sydney Amazons announced that they would play their home matches for the 2016 Australian Volleyball League and Australian Women's Volleyball League seasons at Netball Central.

## Facilities

Netball Central features six timber sprung courts, including a show court which seats 860.

## Events hosted

Netball Central regularly hosts martial arts, volleyball, table tennis, basketball tournaments.

| Date | Event | |
| - | - | - |
| February 2015 | 2015 ANZ Championship Official Pre-Season Summer Shootout | Pre-season netball tournament featuring the ten ANZ Championship teams. |
| April 2015 | 2015 Australian National Netball Championships | Under-17 and Under-19 tournaments. |
| August 2015 | 2015 Netball World Cup | Training venue for all 16 participating teams. Hosted pool matches, play-off and placing games. Hosted 16 matches. |
| June 2016 | 2016 Australian Netball League Finals Series | Victorian Fury defeated NNSW Waratahs 53–46 in the grand final. |
| November 2016 | 2016 Sydney International | Badminton tournament |
| March 2018 | Pre-Season Tournament | Tournament featuring Swifts, Giants, West Coast Fever and England played before 2018 Suncorp Super Netball season |
| May 2018 | 2018 Sydney International | Badminton tournament |
| August 2018 | 2018 IWRF World Championship | Wheelchair rugby tournament |
| October 2018 | 2018 Invictus Games | Sitting volleyball pool matches, Powerlifting heats and finals |
| September 2022 | 2022 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup | Training venue |

## Naming rights sponsor

| | Years |
| - | - |
| Genea | 2016–2018 |
