Bond Bull Sharks Netball’s season was kickstarted with an official dress - and singlet - presentation last Friday.
Bond will field six elite teams in 2026.
On the night, Head of Netball, Kim Boland, reflected upon the rapid rise of Bull Sharks netball.
“In just four years, we’ve grown from one Ruby team to six elite teams,” she said.
“And the work happening behind the scenes is making a real impact.
“Through our partnership with Lindisfarne and our junior programs, we have 27 athletes receiving dresses who have come through our pathways programs.
“In fact, within our Development Pathways team alone, eight of the ten athletes have come through the junior level Cubs program.
Meanwhile, seven Bull Sharks have been named in Suncorp Super Netball Reserves squads.
Premiership quartet Sasha-May Flegler, Jayden Molo, Kaylin van Greunen, and Kirra Tappenden will line up alongside new Bond recruits Brook Lacey and Amy Williams in the Firebirds Futures program.
Bull Sharks skipper Sophie Westover will travel a little further from home for her Super Netball Reserves experience - she's been named in the Sunshine Lightning Bolts squad.
Boland said she was delighted to see Bull Sharks players giving selectors something to think about.
"You'd like to think success inspires a little extra interest," she says. “It’s very gratifying to see our players getting noticed and rewarded for their exceptional effort.”
"To be fair Sasha, Jayden, Kaylin and Kirra have been on the radar for a while, but it's still a tremendous opportunity for them to be tested in an elite, competitive environment.
Although the Super Netball Reserves competition can often disrupt the best laid training plans for Hart Premier League franchises, Boland said there are sometimes positives to be found.
"There's never an ideal way to do this, but we aren’t in the business of denying anyone their opportunity to be the best they can be," she said.
"To be honest you learn to become pretty flexible with training load management at this level."
"And the silver lining is that we have a lot of girls involved, so it's terrific that they can do it together.
"It's great, too, for new players like Brook and Amy to bet tested alongside the girls they'll line up with at Bond when the Sapphire Series kicks off too."
The squad announcements cap a big few weeks for Bull Sharks Netball, with Bond Psychological Sciences student Kirra Tappenden earning some pre-season trial court time with the Queensland Firebirds in Adelaide, and Sasha-May Flegler getting a call up to the Firebirds main squad as an injury replacement.