In 2018 Shepparton will be visited by hundreds of budding young netballers, with one of Netball Victoria’s largest competitions heading north.
The official announcement that the State Titles competition will take place in Shepparton in 2018, was made today by Greater Shepparton City Council at Shepparton Sports City, where the competition will be held.
Greater Shepparton Mayor, Councillor Kim O’Keeffe along with fellow Councillors and Council Officers, were joined by Netball Victoria Chief Executive Officer, Rosie King and local Members of Parliament for the exciting announcement.
Securing the State Titles is a great win for the city located approximately 180 kilometres northeast of Melbourne, with the weekend competition one of the biggest in the netball calendar and expected to attract around 600 players, more than 200 officials and 500 plus spectators.
Netball Victoria Chief Executive Officer, Rosie King said as the state governing body for the sport, Netball Victoria was excited about the competition’s new location for 2018.
“The State Titles provide a terrific opportunity for all of Victoria’s regions to come together and compete in 15/U, 17/U, Open and All Abilities divisions. This is a huge weekend of netball and we are really excited to be taking the State Titles to Shepparton for the first time in 2018,” said King.
“I think locals will really support this great competition and it will be especially nice for any local players to have a home crowd to cheer them on.
“In 2017 we saw record participation numbers for the State Titles, with 630 players participating, so there is no doubt the competition will also benefit the city of Shepparton from an economic perspective to, which is great,” said King.
The newly opened Shepparton Sports City has already attracted several key events and is the perfect location to host the State Titles too, with 18 outdoor netball courts.
The Council also boasted of its growing partnership with Netball Victoria and that it will host a Netball Victoria Beach Netball competition in February (10 to 11 February 2018) too.
With no natural beach, the savvy Council will utilise facilities being created for the FIVB International Beach Volleyball World Tour they are hosting at Victoria Park Lake beforehand.
Greater Shepparton Mayor, Councillor Kim O’Keeffe said, “Securing this event continues our tradition of hosting high profile netball events in partnership with Netball Victoria, including last year’s visit of the Melbourne Vixens and Adelaide Thunderbirds preseason challenge – where both games were fully sold out – and the upcoming Beach Netball next February where we will be building a beach at the Victoria Park Lake.”
“This event is a key legacy from the great work redeveloping the Regional Netball Complex as part of our $21 million investment into Shepparton Sports City, and major netball events like these, help build our reputation as the sporting capital of regional Victoria,” said Cr O’Keeffe.
“Council strives to attract the biggest and best events to Greater Shepparton boosting employment, tourism, entertainment and liveability for our community. Our teams are working hard creating jobs, keeping business busy and the economy strong and this event will be a great showcase of this with over $1 million expected to be injected into Greater Shepparton,” said Cr O’Keeffe.
The 2018 State Titles will be held from 6 to 7 October 2018.
