[images style=”2″ image=”http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thebusinessleague.com.au%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F09%2FFirebirds-players-with-The-Coffee-Club-CEO-Jason-Ball-and-Netball-Queensland-CEO-Catherine-Clark-and-junior-NetSetGo-players.jpg” width=”409″ align=”center” top_margin=”0″ alt_text=”Firebirds%20Players” full_width=”Y”]
It’s an unfortunate reality that netball doesn’t receive as much attention, funding and press as it deserves, even though it’s the largest female sport in the world and the most popular sport amongst Queensland women aged 15-24. But in the past year there has been renewed interest in the game, with Netball Queensland-affiliated teams like the Firebirds and Fusion dominating headlines with wins, drawing thousands of fans and having big brands clamouring to provide sponsorship.
Netball Queensland CEO Catherine Clark has created a winning culture around the sport, most notably in the Firebirds. It’s obvious she’s a keen businesswoman who makes savvy decisions we could all learn from. One lesson that really jumps out at us is her belief that “practice makes perfect”.
Success never happens overnight and often takes returning to the drawing board multiple times to get it right. Before last year’s historic win against the Swifts in the last 30 seconds of the AZN Championship, the Firebirds had years of failed attempts. So what made 2015 different?
According to Clark, the team “put in all the work throughout the pre-season, in every round game, to give themselves a shot at the title…” and that “They made a conscious decision that “near enough” is not good enough and they interrogated every aspect of their program to find potential performance improvement. Not satisfied with second best, they had brutally honest conversations about their performance, their skills, their culture, their game.”
Many of us start a business and expect perfection from day one, forgetting that the ability to be consistently excellent is honed through time, repetition and effort. If we all took a cue from netball teams like the Firebirds, we’d appreciate the time needed to get better. It’s all part of the growth process that all start-up businesses must perfect.
At the Business League, we know all about practising until perfection comes naturally. It’s a common theme reiterated by most of the Guest Speakers who appear at our regular Business Breakfasts.