Strike up support for the Lightning in Melbourne!

The Sunshine Coast Lightning has temporarily relocated to Melbourne due to the COVID-19 outbreak in parts of Queensland and netball fans across our region are urged to strike up support for their side!

Mayor Mark Jamieson said the Lightning made the move on the advice of Netball Australia, to enable the remainder of the Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) competition to continue.

He encouraged  fans to send a message or a video to the team via Sunshine Coast Council’s Facebook page ahead of its rescheduled match against the Vixens on Saturday.

“Like thousands of people across our Sunshine Coast, I’m extremely proud of the Lightning, including the players, coaches and support staff who made the difficult, but important, decision to relocate to Melbourne to ensure their competition season could still play out,” Mayor Jamieson said.

“While I’m sure our local Lightning fans are disappointed they won’t get to watch the team this Sunday at USC Stadium, I’m certain everyone will be tuning in on Saturday to cheer the girls on when they play the Vixens at John Cain Arena in Melbourne.

“In the meantime, Lightning fans can send messages of support online to the team by posting a short video or photo on Council’s Facebook page. I think all netball fans in our region would agree that we were very fortunate in 2020 to host a number of additional Suncorp Super Netball games at USC Stadium due to the COVID-19 situation in other states. 

“So it’s only fair that we respect the current sacrifices the Lightning are making and continue to support our great team as passionately as ever.”

The Lightning is one of five non-Victorian clubs who made the move to Melbourne last night (June 29) at the request of Netball Australia, due to COVID-19 related lock downs being declared in parts of Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia and travel restrictions being imposed by the South Australian government.

The Lightning’s next home game is scheduled for Saturday July 24 against Adelaide. Further information regarding future Suncorp Super Netball fixtures is set to be released by the league in due course.