A full 60-match season will be played and teams are returning to group training together from June 1
Sunday 31 May 2020 07:19, UK
Suncorp Super Netball's 2020 season in Australia have announced a start date of August 1 and a full 60-match season will be completed.
Originally the professional season in Australia was due to start on May 2, however it was postponed on on March 23 due to COVID-19.
The league and the Australian Netball Players' Association held swift discussions regarding players' renumeration packages during the period, with players agreeing to take pay cuts during this challenging period.
From June 1, players will continue to be paid in line with their current agreement of 12 hours per week. Full pre-season training is earmarked for late June and then athletes will return to their normal 23 hours of training a week.
The new fixture list for the 2020 season is being finalised and Suncorp Super Netball will announce its format in due course.
"We're thrilled that a season start date has been locked away, now all our stakeholders have a date to work towards and fans can start to get excited for the start of the season, Suncorp Super Netball CEO Chris Symington said.
"We are planning to play out a full home and away season, and we are confident that our start date gives us the best opportunity to achieve that.
"Our guiding principles throughout this process have never changed, those being the health and wellbeing of the community alongside the financial viability of our sport.
"There has been a collective commitment to those principles from the whole system including players, teams, partners and broadcasters and we will continue to take that approach as we look to get our season underway.
"I would like to thank our dedicated members and fans who have stuck by their teams and the sport through an incredibly challenging period. We look forward to showcasing our world class athletes once again from August 1."
