Vixens hit the road for regional pre-season events
The Melbourne Vixens and Netball Victoria will bring two blockbuster pre-season events to regional Victoria in March, with the two-day Ballarat Blitz returning and an international pre-season match in Bendigo.
On the weekend of 1-2 March, the Vixens will host reigning Suncorp Super Netball champions the Adelaide Thunderbirds alongside GIANTS Netball and West Coast Fever at Ballarat’s Selkirk Stadium on Wadawurrung Country.
Aotearoa New Zealand’s ANZ Premiership side Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic will travel to Bendigo to face the Vixens in the Bound 4 Bendigo pre-season match, to be held at Red Energy Arena on Dja Dja Wurrung Country on 20 March.
Led by New Zealand Silver Ferns captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio, Magic’s squad features five national representatives. The event will also feature a curtain raiser between Bendigo Football Netball League clubs Sandhurst and Kangaroo Flat.
The events will be delivered in partnership with the City of Ballarat, the City of Greater Bendigo, and the Victorian Government’s Significant Sporting Events Program.
Extending beyond the on-court action, the events will also see Netball Victoria deliver a series of community events including netball clinics and school visits, to help bring the sport to the next generation of Victorian netballers.
Umpiring and coaching development activities will also provide aspiring and established officials in both regions with the opportunity to learn from internationally experienced experts.
The pre-season matches will play a key role in the Vixens’ preparation ahead of Round 1 of Suncorp Super Netball, where they’ll face the Thunderbirds in a grand final rematch in Adelaide on Saturday 5 April.
Tickets for the Ballarat Blitz and Bound 4 Bendigo will go on sale to 2025 Vixens members next Wednesday 29 January, and to the general public on Thursday 30 January.
Netball Victoria CEO Andrea Pearman said:
“We’re thrilled to be expanding our partnerships with the City of Ballarat, the City of Greater Bendigo and the Victorian Government to bring more elite, pre-elite and community netball to regional Victoria in 2025.
“Our athletes love getting out into the community, and these events are unrivalled opportunities for us to bring the best of our sport to the next generation of Victorian netball stars.
“We’re proud to be bringing four elite teams from across Australia and New Zealand to regional Victoria this year, and we look forward to competing against quality opposition in front of packed crowds as part of our preparation for season 2025.”
City of Ballarat Mayor Cr Tracey Hargreaves said:
“We are so excited to once again be hosting four elite netball matches in our city as part of the Melbourne Vixens and Netball Victoria’s Ballarat Blitz.
“After the success of last year, tickets to the 2025 event are sure to be snapped up fast, so get in quick and let’s pack out Selkirk Stadium to create a wonderful atmosphere across the first weekend in March!”
City of Greater Bendigo Mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf said:
“We are incredibly excited that the Vixens are once more Bound 4 Bendigo. It is always a thrill to witness elite athletes in action, and this is a sensational opportunity for our future young stars to see their netball idols up close.
“Thank you to the Melbourne Vixens, Netball Victoria, Victorian Government and all visiting Suncorp Super Netball teams for bringing the action and connecting with fans in central Victoria. We look forward to an electric atmosphere at Red Energy Arena!”
Saturday 1 March
3pm – West Coast Fever vs GIANTS Netball
5pm – Melbourne Vixens vs Adelaide Thunderbirds
Sunday 2 March
11am – Melbourne Vixens vs West Coast Fever
1pm – Adelaide Thunderbirds vs GIANTS Netball
Selkirk Stadium, Ballarat
Wadawurrung Country
Thursday 20 March
5.30pm – Bendigo Football Netball League curtain raiser (Sandhurst vs Kangaroo Flat)
6.45pm – Melbourne Vixens vs Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic
Red Energy Arena, Bendigo
Dja Dja Wurrung Country
Based in the Waikato/Bay of Plenty region, the Magic competes in New Zealand’s national league, the ANZ Premiership.
Led by New Zealand Silver Ferns captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio, Magic’s squad boasts five national representatives – Ekenasio and Silver Ferns teammates Erena Mikaere and Claire O’Brien, and Silver Ferns Development Squad and Fast5 Ferns athletes Saviour Tui and Georgie Edgecombe.
From 2008-2016 the Magic competed in the Trans-Tasman ANZ Championship, which included five teams from Australia and five from New Zealand, before the league split into New Zealand’s ANZ Premiership and Australia’s Suncorp Super Netball league.
Magic was the only New Zealand side to claim the trophy in the ANZ Championship era, defeating the Melbourne Vixens in the grand final in 2012.
Tickets
On sale via Ticketek
11am Wednesday 29 January – Vixens member pre-sale
12pm Thursday 30 January – General public
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We acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of all the lands and waters where netball is played throughout Victoria and pay our respects to Elders past and present. We also wish to recognise the tremendous contribution Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make to sport, and in particular netball in Victoria. We are committed to a journey of Reconciliation, working to break down barriers and ensuring equal opportunities for both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across our state.
Netball Victoria is a proudly diverse and inclusive organisation, that actively celebrates LGBT+ diversity, inclusion and pride within the sport of netball throughout Victoria.
The Melbourne Vixens compete in Australia’s premier netball league, Suncorp Super Netball.
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