England Netball is delighted to announce that the Vitality Netball Superleague will be expanded to ten teams for the 2017 season.
As well as the increase in the number of sides competing for the title, we also welcome three new teams to the league with Scottish Sirens, Severn Stars and Wasps all taking their place for next year’s campaign. They will be joined by champions Surrey Storm and six other sides from the 2016 season.
England Netball Chief Executive Officer, Joanna Adams said: “We are thrilled to announce the new line-up for the 2017 Vitality Netball Superleague. Each team submitted an exceptional proposal which we are certain will make for an incredibly exciting season.
“The Superleague has continued to grow in popularity since its launch in 2005 and with record attendances and ticket sales last year, we were keen to make a bold move in growing the number of teams and the aspirations of all involved. We feel this line-up really achieves this”
“In a ground breaking move for England Netball and English sport, we are delighted to welcome the iconic sporting brand Wasps in to the league. We are sure they will be as keen to be competitive in their first season, as they always have been in rugby and we are sure that the other teams will relish the challenge.
“It is good news for the Severn region, as their team the Severn Stars will make their Superleague bow in 2017. Fans north of the border are able to celebrate having the best domestic action return to Glasgow from next season, with a newly formed team, the Scottish Sirens.”
Neville Koopowitz, CEO at Vitality, title sponsor of the Vitality Netball Superleague, comments: “We believe in the power of sport to help inspire people to live a healthy life, which is why we are delighted to support England Netball for the 2017 Vitality Netball Superleague. It’s great to see England Netball go from strength to strength and, with the addition of three new teams, this season promises to be the most exciting and competitive yet.”
The 2017 Vitality Netball Superleague will start in February, with Super Saturday set to return and start the new campaign in style.
England Netball would like to place on record our appreciation of the work and dedication of all involved with Yorkshire Jets, who have not been offered a place in the league for the 2017 season.
We will continue to work with Jets and the wider Yorkshire netball community to ensure talented players and coaches have the opportunity to develop and excel. We plan to work with them and other unsuccessful applicants to create a foundation that will allow them to join the league in a stronger position in the future, should expansion be possible.
England Netball is looking forward to working with all teams to make the 2017 Vitality Netball Superleague as competitive as possible. Involvement for all teams is subject to agreement and finalising contracts in the coming months.
The ten teams invited to take part in the 2017 Vitality Netball Superleague are as follows;
Celtic Dragons, Hertfordshire Mavericks, Loughborough Lightning, Manchester Thunder, Scottish Sirens, Severn Stars, Surrey Storm, Team Bath, Team Northumbria, Wasps Netball
