Rays look poised to secure sponsorships

THE Northern Rays are on the verge of securing their future after solid talks with prospective major sponsors have the club poised for survival.

While nothing has been confirmed, the Rays, who sat out last week of the inaugural Sapphire Series, have received a wave of support in their plight and will play this weekend in Mackay after Carina Leagues Club came on-board as a match day sponsor.

Rays coach Jillian Joyce said while the club was “not out of the woods” yet, they had been working overtime with Netball Queensland to secure the sponsorship save the club.

“We’re in the finalisation of negotiations with major sponsors and Netball Queensland is working hard on our behalf there,” she said.

“No promises are in place yet, but it’s certainly not the dire straits it was.

“What I’m hearing from Netball Queensland and our (management) is they’re positive we’ll be finishing out our rostered, scheduled games for this season.

“So we’re close to getting medium to high level sponsors on board to shore up not only this season but the future.”

With a prearranged bye folrequired to lowing this weekend’s match against the Tigers at Mackay Stadium, the Rays’ potential revival may only see them miss one match in the season after sitting out last weekend.

While not good for on-court development as the side looks to close the gap against powerhouse southern clubs, Joyce said the bye may work in the club’s favour in the long term.

“The draw will help us out ... we’ve had this week to get the support from Carina Leagues to cover this (Tigers) game and with the bye, that gives us another 13 days to get signatures on contracts,” she said.

“It gives us some breathing space. We would have preferred not to have the bye last weekend, but this one has been on the draw from the start, so it gives us a little more time to finish out the season.”

Sitting out last weekend let the club’s players step away after a tumultuous fortnight, which Joyce said had taken its toll on them.

However, with the potential of a sponsorship deal imminent, Joyce was confident the Rays were on the verge of ensuring a long-term future.

“We’re wanting to create long-term relationships, so we won’t face any issues through to the end of our licence phase in 2021,” she said.

Confident the Rays were close to receiving sponsorship, Netball Queensland general manager of high performance and sport entertainment Richard Mcinnes said talks had been progressing strongly.

“We’re working closely with the Northern Rays and the business communities in Mackay, Townsville and Cairns to find a way to ensure the Rays will remain in the HART Sapphire Series, not just for the rest of this season, but beyond,” Mcinnes said.

“We’re encouraged by the responses we’re receiving. It’s clear there is strong support for this team and Netball Queensland is confident we’ll have good news to share soon.”