Netball Australia, the players, sport more broadly (and the arts) have been given a much need boot up the bracket.
Call it a much needed “woke” up call.
They need to decide whether they’re professional, amateur or a strictly charitable cause.
Pick your cliché.
Beggars can’t be choosers, living hand to mouth or don’t bite the hand that feeds you because right now, netball is on their bones, running on fumes and attitudinally at least, hovering somewhere between a totally amateur outfit and a charitable cause, playing out of a disused army, Nissan hut in country town, post WW2 Australia.
The sanctimonious attitude that your “values” some how trump those of fans and supporters of the sport, is a total misreading and misunderstanding of your job and the requisite skills.
Best expressed, in the case of basketball as: “just shut up and dribble”, leave your selective and flexible “values” and principles in the locker-room. We’re not interested.
People have never been supportive of political statements in sport particularly from emotionally immature and reactive types who have no idea what they’re talking about on climate, Covid, gender, identity politics or anything else and with sponsorship money tight and viability depending on eyeballs and bums on seats, sponsors want more bang for their buck, badge and branding.
Insulting your audience, supporters and sponsors when you don’t hold a winning hand is not a winning strategy.
As that other well worn and tedious cliché goes, “go woke, go broke”