Victorian Netball League

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Victorian Netball League
Founded2009
CountryAustralia
RegionVictoria
DivisionsChampionship
23 & Under
Number of teams11
Level on pyramid2
Current championsCity West Falcons
Most championshipsCity West Falcons
(7 Championship titles)
Websitevic.netball.com.au

The Victorian Netball League (VNL) is a

Victoria, Australia. The league is organised by Netball Victoria, with the modern league beginning in 2009. It replaced an earlier state league as the top level netball competition in Victoria. On a national level, the VNL is effectively a third-tier league, below Suncorp Super Netball and the Australian Netball Championships
.

From 2009-2011, due to sponsorship and naming rights arrangements, the VNL was known as the Holden Cruze Cup. Between 2018-2020, the league was sponsored by Bupa and was known as the Bupa Victorian Netball League.

A change at the end of the 2023 season saw three divisions (Championship, Division 1 and 19 & Under) become two - with Division 1 and 19 & Under replaced with a 23 & Under division. It also saw the inclusion of new clubs Bendigo Strikers, Gippsland Stars and Western Warriors. The Stars will initially field a 23 & Under team, before entering the Championship division by 2027.

Nine existing clubs (Boroondara, Casey, City West, Geelong, Hawks, Lightning, Blaze, Waves and Saints) had their licenses renewed, with foundation club Ariels a casualty of the restructure.

The league's most successful team, City West Falcons (originally known as Hume City Falcons), have won seven Championship titles and 17 premierships in total, to the end of 2023.

History

Foundation

The modern league began in 2009, replacing an earlier

VU Western Lightning and Yarra Valley Grammar Ariels. The league featured three divisions – Championship, Division 1 and 19 & Under. The ten teams entered a team in each of the three divisions. The new structure was designed to encourage player development.[1][2][3][4]

City West Falcons

The league's most successful team has been City West Falcons, who have won seven Championship titles and 17 premierships in total, across three divisions.[5] As Hume City Falcons, they won the inaugural Championship in 2009 and claimed it again the following year[2][6][7] With a team that included Kathleen Knott, they won their first Championship as City West Falcons in 2012 [8][9] and again in 2013.[10][11] In 2018, Falcons won their fifth Championship title.[12][13] Falcons won their sixth Championship title in 2022, also winning the 19 & Under Grand Final.

Victorian Fury

The

Australian Netball League team Victorian Fury is effectively the representative team of the VNL. In turn, Fury is the reserve team of Melbourne Vixens.[14][15][16]

Teams

2023 teams

Team Home venue/base Home city/town/suburb Debut season
Boroondara Express [17][18] Boroondara Sports Complex Boroondara 2009
Casey Demons [19][20][21] Casey Stadium City of Casey 2019
City West Falcons [5] Maribyrnong College[7] Maribyrnong, Victoria 2009 (as Hume City Falcons)
Geelong Cougars [22][23] - Geelong 2009
Hawks Netball [24][25][26] - - 2009 (as Monash Storm)
Melbourne University Lightning [27][28][29] Parkville Campus University of Melbourne 2009 (as VU Western Lightning)
North East Blaze [30][31] Community Bank Stadium Diamond Creek, Victoria 2009
Peninsula Waves [32][33] - Mornington Peninsula 2009
Wilson Storage Southern Saints [34][35] - City of Bayside 2009
Bendigo Strikers Red Energy Stadium Bendigo 2024
Gippsland Stars - - 2024
Western Warriors - - 2024
Notes

Source:[3][21][37][38][39]

Former teams

Team Home city/town/suburb Debut season Final season
Ballarat Pride [4][40][41] Ballarat 2009 2014
ACU Sovereigns [41][42][43] Ballarat 2015 2018
Ariels Maroondah Nets 2009 2023

Championship Grand Finals

Season Winners Score Runners Up Venue
2009 [2][5][17] Hume City Falcons 47–44 Boroondara Genesis
SNHC
2010 [5] Hume City Falcons
SNHC
2011 [17][25] Monash University Storm Boroondara Express
SNHC
2012 [8][9] City West Falcons 42–37 VU-Western Lightning
SNHC
2013 [10][11] City West Falcons 44–41 Peninsula Waves
SNHC
2014 [44][45] Southern Saints 48–42 City West Falcons
SNHC
2015 [46][47] Boroondara Express 50–44 City West Falcons
SNHC
2016 [48][49] Melbourne University Lightning 53–52 City West Falcons
SNHC
2017 [50][51] North East Blaze 49–46 Melbourne University Lightning
SNHC
2018 [12][13] City West Falcons 56–48 Geelong Cougars
SNHC
2019 [52][53][54][55] Geelong Cougars 69–55 Casey Demons
SNHC
2020 No competition due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021 No finals series played[56]
2022[57][58] City West Falcons 49–47 Geelong Cougars
Parkville
2023 City West Falcons 60-54 Boroondara Express Parkville

Notable players

The VNL is effectively a feeder league for the

Collingwood Magpies. VNL players have also played for the Australia national netball team and other international teams.[14][59]

Internationals

 Australia
 Malawi
 Scotland
 Sri Lanka

Melbourne Vixens

Collingwood Magpies

Source:[6][9][27][47][49][51][53][59]

Award winners

Margaret Caldow Trophy

The Championship MVP award is named after Margaret Caldow.

Season Player Team
2009 [2] Brooke Thompson VU Western Lightning
2010
2011[60] Melinda Cranston Boroondara Genesis
2012 [8]
Caitlyn Strachan (Note 1)
 Yarra Valley Grammar Ariels
Mwai Kumwenda Peninsula Waves
Helen Barclay Monash University Central
2013 [10]
Caitlyn Strachan(Note 2)
 Yarra Valley Grammar Ariels
Brooke Thompson VU Western Lightning
2014 [44] Chloe Watson City West Falcons
2015 [46] Kathleen Knott City West Falcons
2016 [48] Maggie Lind City West Falcons
2017 [50] Micaela Wilson North East Blaze
2018
2019[61] Julia Woolley Geelong Cougars
2020 Not awarded
2021[56] Julia Woolley (Note 3) Geelong Cougars
Maggie Lind City West Falcons
2022[62] Nyah Allen North East Blaze
Notes
  • ^1 2012 award was shared.
  • ^2 2013 award was shared.
  • ^3 2021 award was shared.
Player of the Championship Grand Final
Season Player Team
2009 [2] Ashlee Howard Boroondara Genesis
2010
2011
2012 [8] Christie Barnes City West Falcons
2013 [10]
Elizabeth Watson
 City West Falcons
2014 [44] Leah Percy Southern Saints
2015 [46] Sarah Yule Boroondara Express
2016 [48] Dani Stewart Melbourne University Lightning
2017 [50] Micaela Wilson North East Blaze
2018
2019 [53] Vanessa Augustini Geelong Cougars
2022 [63] Zoe Davies City West Falcons

Main sponsors

Years
Holden Cruze[2][64][65]
 2009–2011
Devine Homes [8][10] 2012–2013
Bupa[12][52][66][67] 2018–2020
No sponsor 2021-current

References

  1. ^ "Victorian Netball League". vic.netball.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Netball Victoria – Annual Report 2009" (PDF). Netball Victoria. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b "The talk is over" (PDF). www.bna.org.au. 9 March 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 March 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Pride's bid to stay in Victorian Netball League". www.thecourier.com.au. 20 February 2014. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d "City West Falcons". vic.netball.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Falcons take wing". starcommunity.com.au. 2 March 2010. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d "City West Falcons embrace the red, white and blue". wyndham.starweekly.com.au. 7 April 2015. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d e "2012 Annual Report – Netball Victoria – Melbourne Vixens" (PDF). Netball Victoria. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  9. ^ a b c "Western rivals collide". wordpress.com. 11 August 2012. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Netball Victoria – Annual Report 2013" (PDF). Netball Victoria. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  11. ^ a b "VNL: City West Falcons soar to VNL win". starweekly.com.au. 5 August 2013. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  12. ^ a b c d "Netball Victoria – 2018 Annual Report" (PDF). vic.netball.com.au. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  13. ^ a b "Victorian Netball League: City West Falcons beat Geelong Cougars in grand final". www.heraldsun.com.au. 3 September 2018. Archived from the original on 4 September 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  14. ^ a b "Victorian Fury team named". vic.netball.com.au. 18 March 2020. Archived from the original on 16 June 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  15. ^ "2020 Team". vic.netball.com.au. Archived from the original on 16 June 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  16. ^ "Victorian Fury Selection Policy" (PDF). vic.netball.com.au. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  17. ^ a b c "Boroondara Express". www.bna.org.au. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  18. ^ "Boroondara Express". vic.netball.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  19. ^ "Casey Demons Netball". caseydemonsnetball.vic.netball.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  20. ^ "Casey Demons". vic.netball.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  21. ^ a b c "Casey joins Victorian Netball League". www.melbournefc.com.au. 19 September 2018. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  22. ^ "Geelong Netball Club". geelongnetball.com.au. Archived from the original on 26 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  23. ^ "Geelong Cougars". vic.netball.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  24. ^ a b "Hawks Netball Club". hawksnetballclub.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  25. ^ a b c "Hawks Netball". vic.netball.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  26. ^ a b "Hawks expand their wings into netball". www.hawthornfc.com.au. 19 March 2018. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  27. ^ a b c "Melbourne University Lightning – Our History". mulightning-dpga.squarespace.com. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  28. ^ "Melbourne University Lightning". vic.netball.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  29. ^ "Melbourne University Sport – Netball". sport.unimelb.edu.au. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  30. ^ "North East Blaze Netball Club". www.northeastblazenetball.com.au. Archived from the original on 13 March 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  31. ^ "North East Blaze". vic.netball.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  32. ^ "Peninsula Waves". peninsulawaves.com.au/. Archived from the original on 6 March 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  33. ^ "Peninsula Waves". vic.netball.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  34. ^ "Wilson Storage Southern Saints". baysidenetballclub.com. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  35. ^ "Wilson Storage Southern Saints". vic.netball.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  36. ^ "New era for netball". www.smh.com.au. 11 August 2014. Archived from the original on 16 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  37. ^ "VNL Teams". vic.netball.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  38. ^ "Victorian Netball League". netball.draftcentral.com.au. Archived from the original on 4 March 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  39. ^ "2020 Bupa Victorian Netball League fixture released". vic.netball.com.au. 2 December 2019. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  40. ^ "Ballarat's exit from VNL would be hugely detrimental: Vixens' Tegan Caldwell". www.thecourier.com.au. 26 June 2014. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  41. ^ a b "Sovereigns unsuccessful in its bid for Victorian Netball League licence". www.thecourier.com.au. 6 September 2018. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  42. ^ "2016 Victorian Netball League Guide". www.pixelninjacreative.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  43. ^ "Netball: new on-court leader for Sovereigns". www.thecourier.com.au. 3 March 2016. Archived from the original on 12 June 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  44. ^ a b c "Netball Victoria – Annual Report 2014" (PDF). vic.netball.com.au. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  45. ^ "VNL GF: City West Falcons v Southern Saints". starweekly.com.au. 3 July 2014. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  46. ^ a b c "Netball Victoria – Annual Report 2015" (PDF). vic.netball.com.au. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  47. ^ a b "Success for Boroondara Express". www.latrobevalleyexpress.com.au. 18 June 2015. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  48. ^ a b c "Netball Victoria – 2016 Annual Report" (PDF). vic.netball.com.au. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  49. ^ a b "VNL Grand Finals Report". vic.netball.com.au. 28 August 2016. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  50. ^ a b c "Annual Report 2017 – Netball Victoria" (PDF). vic.netball.com.au. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  51. ^ a b "Blaze and Cougars VNL Premiers". vic.netball.com.au. 19 August 2017. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  52. ^ a b "Netball Victoria – 2019 Annual Report" (PDF). vic.netball.com.au. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  53. ^ a b c "Bupa VNL Grand Final results". vic.netball.com.au. 14 August 2019. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  54. ^ "Casey falls at the final hurdle". cranbournenews.starcommunity.com.au. 15 August 2019. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  55. ^ "2019 VNL Champions". geelongnetball.com.au. 19 August 2019. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  56. ^ a b "Netball Victoria Annual Report 2021" (PDF). Netball Victoria. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  57. ^ "VNL 2022: Season wrap". Netball Victoria. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  58. ^ "City West Falcons claim epic Grand Final win". Netball Victoria. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  59. ^ a b "Vixens & Magpies". www.bna.org.au. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  60. ^ Staindl, Gavin (23 November 2011). "Never say never again". Pakenham Gazette. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  61. ^ "Bupa VNL Awards Night - live updates". Netball Victoria. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  62. ^ "2022 VNL Awards announced". Netball Victoria. 12 August 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  63. ^ "City West Falcons claim epic Grand Final win". Netball Victoria. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  64. ^ "See More VNL Netball in Round 17 of the Holden Cruze Cup!". sportstg.com. 19 July 2010. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  65. ^ "Holden Cruze Cup - Round 8". sportstg.com. 7 May 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  66. ^ "Bupa announced as new major partner of the Victorian Netball League". vic.netball.com.au. 9 April 2018. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  67. ^ "Bupa announces new major partnership with Netball Victoria with VNL naming rights". media.bupa.com.au. 9 April 2018. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Victorian_Netball_League&oldid=1204350394"