NNZ Announces New Appointed Board Member

NNZ Announces New Appointed Board Member

Netball New Zealand is delighted to announce the appointment of Allison Ferguson as the newest appointed member of the Netball New Zealand Board.

The role became available after NNZ Board Chair Raewyn Lovett completed her full term last month after nine years on the Board, the past six as chair. The Netball New Zealand Board appointments panel – Sir John Wells, Lovett and John Bongard made the decision to appoint Ferguson from a strong list of candidates.

Ferguson has broad commercial skills with a strong legal background and is equally passionate about Netball, chairing the Auckland Netball Board from 2001-2009. She was a previous director of Queen City Netball Ltd (Auckland Diamonds, National Bank Cup Netball franchise) for four years and was one of two Northern representatives in the project team for the development of the New Zealand franchises for the ANZ Championship.

Allison was also a team member for the set-up of Greater Auckland Netball Ltd (Northern Mystics Netball franchise) 2007-2008. Ferguson joins eight other NNZ Board members including newly appointed Board Chair John Bongard.

Bongard says the calibre of candidates applying for the role on the Board was outstanding.

“We received a high number of impressive applications for the role but it was the combination of Allison’s commercial and legal expertise coupled with her commitment to Netball for more than 9 years that made her a stand out candidate for us. We’re confident she will slot in seamlessly on the Board,” Bongard said.

“It’s an exciting time for Netball in New Zealand ahead of two pinnacle events - the upcoming 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow where we are the defending champions and the Netball World Cup next year,” he said. “We are also extremely focussed on supporting our five Netball Zones and community Netball with the innovative Junior Netball Programme rolling out this year.”

In the past, Allison has been involved in a number of sports law matters, from selection challenges (at a national and Olympic level), to representing athletes facing disciplinary action, to advising the judicial committees of sporting organisations.

Allison’s legal experience includes acting for and advising clients in respect of a wide range of issues and disputes, including: contract, negligence, media law/defamation, insurance, intellectual property, construction, shareholder disputes, sports, Fair Trading Act and Commerce Act issues, public law and regulatory matters.

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