Sunshine Coast Lightning


The Sunshine Coast Lightning is an Australian netball team in Sunshine Coast, Queensland which competes in the premier domestic league, Suncorp Super Netball. The team were formed in 2016 as the second Queensland-based side, during the disbanding of the ANZ Championship. The team is a joint venture owned by the Melbourne Storm and University of the Sunshine Coast. In their three years of competition in Super Netball, the Lightning have won two premierships and featured in three grand finals.

History

Following the dissolving of the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship competition in 2016, Netball Australia announced the creation of a new national Netball league, which would feature the five original Australian teams and three additional teams. In May 2016, Netball Australia confirmed that professional rugby league club the Melbourne Storm was one of three preferred licence holders for the new teams.
in progress
The club was launched in August 2016. The club colours and logo are similar to the features of the Storm. Speaking at the launch, Storm CEO Dave Donaghy stated it was "exciting for the junior netballers, the fans, local businesses and the entire Sunshine Coast region. This is your team". Noeline Taurua was immediately appointed coach of the team and high-profile Australia national team players Caitlin Bassett and Stephanie Wood were the team's inaugural signings. The Lightning play home matches at the USC Stadium, which was upgraded prior to their first home match to seat 2,200 people and featured corporate boxes and broadcast facilities. As a result of growing demand, the venue was upgraded to 3,000 seats and featured new change rooms, a function room, public bathrooms and upgraded sound system; all of which was completed in May 2019. The Lightning have also played occasional home games at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, usually against local rivals the Queensland Firebirds.

2017-20: Back-to-back premierships

The 2017 Suncorp Super Netball season saw the debut of the Sunshine Coast Lightning. England international Geva Mentor was appointed inaugural captain of the team.
After finishing second on the ladder, the Lightning defeated the Melbourne Vixens by one goal in the major semi-final to progress directly to the Grand Final, where they comfortably defeated Giants Netball at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre and became one of the few expansion teams to record a Premiership in their debut season in Australian sport. The following season the Lightning narrowly qualified for finals, though defeated the Firebirds and Giants to qualify for the second consecutive Grand Final, this time against West Coast Fever in Perth. In a tight game before over 13,700 fans, the Lightning registered a three goal win to record their second consecutive premiership. After Mentor left the club at the end of the season, Laura Langman was appointed captain, with Karla Pretorius named vice-captain. The club continued their dominance in the 2019 season, losing just two matches on the way to their first minor premiership. Despite qualifying for their third successive grand final, the Lightning were surprisingly defeated by the New South Wales Swifts at home. The result marked an end of an era as inaugural coach Noeline Taurua left the role after three seasons and was replaced by long-time assistant at the club, Kylee Byrne.

Players

Notable past players

Territory Storm