Australian netball great Liz Ellis has been appointed the new chair of Netball Australia’s board.

The Netball and Sports Australia hall-of-famer and most-capped Australian Diamond international, who captained that team for four years, called it a “huge privilege”.

Ellis also captained the Sydney Swifts to the 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2007 Commonwealth Bank Trophy premierships (the competition eventually succeeded by Super Netball).

Ellis, who joined the board just last month, will replace Wendy Archer as Chair, though Archer will remain as a director on the board. The news follows the appointment of Stacey West as the new CEO of Netball Australia.

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“It is a huge privilege to lead this great sport which has given me so much in my life and which plays such an important role in the lives of millions of girls and young woman,” Ellis said in a statement.

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After Netball Australia this week announced a second-consecutive annual surplus, Ellis was confident in the future of the sport.

“Netball is in a healthy position,” she said. “We’re seeing record crowds at Suncorp Super Netball matches and growing broadcast audiences this season at the same time as revenue from our commercial partners is growing. Fans are more engaged than ever which is great to see, but we will all work hard to do even better.

“This is an exciting time to be part of netball in this country. Our Origin Australian Diamonds are the best in the world, we have the best elite competition in the world, we have more than one million participants and we are hosting the Netball World Cup in 2027, which is also the centenary of our sport.

“We have challenges that we will meet head-on, but everyone in the sport from the Board to the clubs, to the players and the fans are united and that opens up opportunities to do amazing things together.’’