Many sports teams talk the big talk about connecting to their community; of nurturing a sense of pride and belonging, regardless of demographics or culture.
But the Stars netball franchise are putting their money where their mouth is.
With many families feeling the financial squeeze right now – especially in the Stars’ south Auckland backyard – the franchise has come up with an interesting initiative, to give back to loyal fans and draw in new ones.
They’ve offered a ‘pay what you can’ deal, to watch last season’s grand finalists play their first ANZ Premiership match of the season at their home stadium, Pulman Arena, on April 14.
They set a wide range of prices for seats at the game against the Pulse – from $2, $4 and $5 at one end of the scale, to $50 and $100 at the other.
The idea is whānau who usually can’t afford the $30 an adult and $17 a child price tags for Stars home games may be able to pay for the cut-price tickets; or families who know little about netball might take their kids along.
But it also means loyal Stars fans – among the legion of purple-wigged patrons who frequent Pulman Arena – who are happy to pay the higher values can make a donation to their team.
It’s a smart way, too, to get fans engaged early in the season with the team who last year finished runners-up to fellow Auckland team the Mystics.
Stars captain Maia Wilson, back for an eighth season with the side, is proud the franchise can give back to their community.
“Netball is a vehicle – it’s about relationships and the importance of us as role models in the lower socio-economic area we cover. It’s important for us to stay true to who we are, to who we are surrounded by,” she says.
“Hopefully our tickets are accessible to anyone and everyone – whether you’ve been a regular netball fan or someone very new to the game who brings their kids along, so they might think, ‘Hey that could be me playing out there in a couple of years’.”
Unsurprisingly, all the $2 tickets have been snapped up, and the 1500-capacity seating has almost sold out. But this week there were still tickets available for less than $10.
Stars general manager Jane Bennett, who came up with the concept, is pleased the Stars community has understood what they’re trying to achieve.
“When we first released the tickets, not all the cheapest ones were the first to go. People really thought about what they could afford and what other people might need to pay,” she says.
“Times are tough, the cost of living is high. So for some, spending money on this sort of activity is really a bit of a luxury.
“I’ve seen a few ‘pay as you feel’ community restaurants and other similar concepts in the news lately. We’ve done quite a bit of work on our purpose and values as a team over the last year, and giving back to the community is a big part of that.”
At the end of 2023, the Stars met their key stakeholders and agreed it was time to revise the franchise’s vision, Wilson says.
“I don’t think we’d done that since the Stars began [in 2017]. One of the key pillars that came out of it was a massive community focus – how important it is for us to have that community connection. What they give to us, what we give back, is something we really want to focus on,” she says.
Cheaper tickets aren’t sustainable over a three-month league, though. The Stars have only been able to offer the ‘pay what you can’ model for the opening game through Bruce Pulman Park giving them the stadium for free.
“Without them coming on board, it would make it really challenging,” Bennett says. “It would definitely be a loss-making event if we did it for every game, so we’re not quite in a position to do that permanently. But we’re looking at other opportunities to keep supporting our community groups.”
Last year, the Stars sold out just one game. Crowd numbers weren’t helped by the ANZ Premiership starting a month earlier (before club netball began) to make room for the World Cup in July, and fans being slow to return after the global pandemic.
“It’s tough on our players, who had an awesome season last year and you really want crowds there for them. So hopefully doing this to start the season brings a few new people in,” Bennett says. “It’s inside and it’s free parking.”
There are over 372,000 people in south Auckland and almost two-thirds are Māori and Pasifika. But there are other cultures the Stars want to connect with.
“We’re in the heart of the south, and when you look at the surrounding demographics, it’s very multicultural. You have Indian and Asian communities, as well as Māori and Pasifika,” Wilson says.
“It’s important to connect to different demographics we haven’t been in or around so I’m quite excited to see diversity in the crowd.”
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With five changes this season, the Stars bring a diverse line-up to the court, too. They now boast two Fijian-born defenders – exciting young talent Lili Tokaduadua joins Kelera Nawai-Caucau at the back of the court – and two new Australian-born attackers – Emma Thompson and Rahni Samason.
It’s a homecoming in a way for Samason: the Vixen shooter’s dad is Cook Island Māori and much of his family lives in south Auckland. She also played against many of the Stars a decade ago, when she was in the Australian schoolgirls team who played the New Zealand schoolgirls in Adelaide.
“Culture was a massive part of Rahni coming to the Stars,” says Wilson. “Her grandparents, cousins and extended whānau live here. So to see her deepening relationships with her own whānau has been beautiful for us, too.
“She’s feeling so comfortable in the whānau environment and learning more of her culture which only adds to who we are.”
Samason was considered one of Australia’s brightest young stars coming through the pathway, but leg injuries have slowed her progress. “She’s had some gnarly injuries in the past. She’s training fully but she’s still learning about her body,” Wilson says.
A confident long-range shooter, Samason can play in either shooting position, which will give specialist goal shoot Wilson a chance to play at goal attack – especially making use of the new worldwide rule which allows tactical substitutions after a goal is scored.
“At the shooting end, we’ll have more mobility, in terms of seeing me out at goal attack. It’s definitely a reality this season to be able to put someone behind me. I don’t want to kick goal shoot to the curb; I just want to be great at both,” Wilson says.
The Stars travel south to play in the Ōtaki pre-season tournament, with the Pulse, Tactix and Queensland Firebirds. (All the premiership sides, barring the Stars, are playing in another tournament, the Southern Showdown, in Dunedin next weekend).
Having made three grand finals in their seven seasons but with no title to their name, the Stars’ mission statement, penned by coach Kiri Wills, is ‘From silver to gold’.
“Some of us have had three gos at it, and each time we’ve come away absolutely gutted,” Wilson says. “But each time we felt we’d got better at dealing with pressure in crucial moments.
“For those of us who’ve been around a while, we’re a lot more performance-driven now – we have an added inner drive. And with the younger players, it means we’ve set them higher standards of where we collectively want to be.”
