This weekend, the Bond University Bull Sharks Netball franchise will have both its Sapphire and Ruby teams contesting finals for the very first time.
But it wasn’t long ago that Bond University Bull Sharks Netball was in a very different place.
After a few years of battling bravely against talent-stacked competition heavyweights in the Hart Sapphire and Ruby Series, the much younger and less experienced Bull Sharks teams only had a single unsuccessful finals appearance each to show for it.
It wasn’t for lack of effort. Players were giving their all.
And with healthy junior player numbers on the Gold Coast, and significant school netball nurseries like Somerset College, Palm Beach Currumbin State High School, Kings Christian College, and Southport State High School churning out plenty of good athletes, the local talent pool was definitely deep.
But it was becoming increasingly hard to convince ambitious elite-level athletes that the Gold Coast was a place where a netball career could flourish.
Back then the prevailing wisdom was that no one from the Firebirds or Lightning was ever going to see you on the Gold Coast.
It meant talent spotters from more powerful franchises up north could dangle carrots that Bond simply couldn’t.
Many highly credentialed players had performed well at Bond, but the promise of greater visibility elsewhere is a tantalising prospect in a brutally competitive sport where precious few elite opportunities exist.
Ashleigh Ervin, recently selected in the Australian Diamonds squad, was a Bull Shark until she found a home at Super Netball club, Sunshine Coast Lightning. She’s flourishing there alongside another former Bull Shark, Ava Black.
Maddi Ridley, a Bond University ADCO Sports Excellence Scholar, is now with Carina Leagues Club Tigers. She debuted for the Firebirds this year.
Rylee Burns, now a Firebirds Training Partner, cut her teeth at Bond but moved to Brisbane North Cougars where her star continues to rise.
Highly rated shooting prospect, Elsa Sif Sandholt – a Firebirds Futures player - made the move to Ipswich Jets.
In the end the traffic became very difficult to manage. Bond’s inaugural coach departed. Restless players weighed their options. Administrators became nervous.
And then the Gold Coast Titans announced their intention to set up a netball franchise in a city that barely seemed to have room for one franchise, let alone two.
Before anyone could blink, the strong whisper around town was that Bond Bull Sharks Netball would be no more.
That’s when Cath and Kim entered the fray. Not the comedic mother-daughter duo out of the fictitious Melbourne suburb of Fountain Lakes. Instead, Bond University had its own version.
Cath is Catherine Marks, Vice President of Engagement at Bond University.
Kim is Kim Boland, Head of Netball.
Marks recalls universities everywhere grappling with a tangle of issues in the immediate aftermath of the Covid period. Although Bond and the tertiary sector had plenty to juggle at the time, she saw it as imperative that netball remained a priority.
“Netball is a community engagement sport. It is a hugely important part of women's sport in many countries, not just in Australia. But for us, it helped ensure we were connected to community and to connected to the talent that was coming through. At the end of the day, we want to see young people do well at both their studies and in their sport. And if we haven't got an opportunity available, then that's a real problem.”
The first task was simply staying afloat.
That meant pulling together a Ruby team so at least the Bull Sharks could wedge a foot in the door. It was a challenge. Talent had already dispersed to other franchises, and circumstances had conspired to give the Titans first dibs at available players.
But Boland, with a long history as a representative coach at local level, knew there were enough capable netballers left who could put up a bit of Bull Sharks fight.
A team led by Allanah Penny, then a final-year Bond University Doctorate of Physiotherapy student, was cobbled together.
So too was an unlikely team of support staff. It was all hands on deck there for a bit.
Catherine Marks found herself in a Bull Sharks polo flying the Bull Sharks flag at local netball presentation days.
Duane Kelaart, Bond’s Head of Engagement Services, was driving the team bus, ordering strapping tape, pumping up game balls and rolling out promotional banners.
Players parents did their bit too.
The team didn’t win too often, but they never lost by much, and they always fought tooth and nail.
Meanwhile, in addition to her coaching role, Kim Boland got to work rebuilding and reshaping the Bond netball experience. That required winning local hearts and minds and thinking long term by pitching Bond not just to tertiary education seekers and advanced athletes, but also to primary schoolers who needed something to aspire to.
It also meant an iron-clad commitment to return the Bull Sharks to Sapphire level competition in 2023.
“We need to look at those young ones to be our future Sapphire players,” Boland says.
“We need them to know that we are here for them. Our junior level Cubs program is really close to our heart. We’ve worked really hard on it, and it's growing every year. Our Ruby and Sapphire players get involved as accessible role models. We've seen that paid when the little ones swarm us after the games. Just last week there was a massive group from Tamborine Mountain Netball Club cheering us on.”
Boland says it’s one thing to appeal to younger kids, but it’s another challenge altogether to retain them as they develop in the sport.
“There was a lack of a proper pathway here on the Gold Coast and [having one] was something that I was really passionate about. So for me, a big part of it is about retaining our Gold Coast talent.”
And that's happening.
Boland points out that Bond’s Ruby team is fully loaded with Gold Coast-based players and of those selected in Bond’s U16 and U18 State Titles squads, 90% have come through the Bull Sharks Cubs program and Elite Premier League development teams.
She also points to a growing number of student and scholarship athletes among Bull Sharks ranks.
“There’s four this year, the most so far, and we are determined to see those numbers grow,” she says.
“It’s obviously our draw card - that we're backed by a university so we’re able to offer the student experience with a semi-professional netball experience.”
Creating a stable environment for the Sapphire group has also been a critical part of the process.
The Bull Sharks have assembled a terrific coaching team. Gavin Clarke had enjoyed significant success as a men’s netball coach before he arrived, and specialist coach Amanda Kelly had been part of the Netball Queensland Elite Pathways system for a while.
But there’s no doubt Rebecca Stower’s arrival as Sapphire coach has proved a massive coup.
Her game-day nous, straight-talking and eye for technical detail arrived at Bond at the perfect moment and there’s absolutely no doubt she’s relishing the challenge of building something from the ground up.
And the fact she’s won gold, silver and bronze National Championship medals as a Queensland U17 and U19 coach in recent years certainly appeals to players looking to advance their careers. It also attracts those who’ve already responded well to her mentorship.
It definitely paved the way for the arrival of gun shooter Kaylin van Greunen (a Bond University Leadership Scholar and Bachelor of Health Sciences student), midcourt star Jayden Molo, and Firebirds Training Partner, Sasha May Flegler.
“Once one comes, they all seem to want to come after that,” Boland says.
The Bull Sharks rebuild hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Burleigh-based business Classic Concrete Pumping jumped on board as a major commercial sponsor - no small thing at a time when the sport’s struggle to attract sponsorship is consistently in the headlines.
Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School has also come on board as Junior Pathways Partner.
Marks can’t help but be thrilled at how much has been achieved in such a short time and she’s proud that Bond put its faith in Boland to lead the charge.
“The thing that emerged very strongly with Kim was her determination,” she says.
“There was a line up of people who we looked at in terms of who could actually turn things around for us. We wanted someone who could engaged with the community, who understood that we wanted excellence for women’s sport at Bond, and who could coach and lead. It was a tall order. There was a massive job that needed to be done. Kim eased her way in and just made it all happen seamlessly.”
Still, there is plenty of work to do. The netball wheel rarely stops turning.
There’s a new intermediate-level program developed in conjunction with the Gold Coast Academy of Sport starting up in a few weeks, U16 and U18 State Titles teams need to prepare for their September competition, and Bond’s Elite Premier League sides are only at the halfway mark of their seasons. There’s also talk of tapping into the rapidly growing men’s version of the sport.
So despite enjoying a sense of collective achievement after a couple of really hard years, resting on laurels isn’t really an option for Boland and the Bull Sharks program.
The Bull Sharks teams have done well to make the finals, but both now play sudden death games, and the competition is red hot.
For now, she’s under no illusions about the task at hand.
“Now our season starts again,” she says.
Bond Bull Shark’s Sapphire team will tackle University of Sunshine Coast Thunder in an elimination final on Nissan Arena's Show Court at 4pm this Sunday.
Bond’s Ruby team will also feature in an elimination final on Sunday. They'll play Brisbane North Cougars at the same venue at 6pm on Court 1.