Sunshine Coast Lightning

Sunshine Coast Lightning are a professional Australian netball team based at the University of the Sunshine Coast. The team was formed in 2016 as a joint venture between the university and Melbourne Storm. Since 2017 they have played in Super Netball. Lightning have played in three grand finals, winning premierships in 2017 and 2018.^[1][2][3]

Sunshine Coast Lightning

Founded	2016
Based in	University of the Sunshine Coast
Regions	Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Home venue	USC Stadium
Chairperson	Matt Tripp
Head coach	Belinda Reynolds
Captain	Steph Fretwell
Premierships	2 (2017, 2018)
League	Super Netball
2025 placing	5th
Website	sunshinecoastlightning.com.au

History

New franchise

12 May 2017; Sunshine Coast Lightning v West Coast Fever in a 2017 Suncorp Super Netball Round 12 match at USC Stadium

In May 2016, Netball Australia and Netball New Zealand announced that the ANZ Championship would be discontinued after the 2016 season. In Australia it was replaced by Super Netball. The founding members of Super Netball included the five former Australian ANZ Championship teams – Adelaide Thunderbirds, Melbourne Vixens, New South Wales Swifts, Queensland Firebirds and West Coast Fever; plus three brand new franchises: Collingwood Magpies, Giants Netball and Sunshine Coast Lightning.^{[1][2][4][5][6][7]}

In August 2016, Sunshine Coast Lightning was officially launched. The team was formed as a joint venture by Melbourne Storm and the University of the Sunshine Coast with the support of Sunshine Coast Council. The colours of the team - navy blue, purple and yellow - are the same as the Storm's. The logo features a bolt of lightning.^{[1][2][3][8][9][10]}

Noeline Taurua era

Noeline Taurua guided Sunshine Coast Lightning to the 2017 and 2018 Super Netball titles

Before the official launch of Sunshine Coast Lightning, Noeline Taurua had already been announced as the inaugural head coach of the new franchise.^[9][11][12] In September 2016, Caitlin Bassett and Stephanie Wood became the first two Lightning players.^{[2][13][14][15]} Geva Mentor also subsequently signed for Lightning.^[16][17] In February 2017, Mentor was named captain of the new franchise.^[18][19] In 2017, Lightning finished the season as inaugural champions after defeating Giants Netball 65–48 in the grand final.^{[1][2][20][21][22]} In 2018 they retained the title after defeating West Coast Fever 62–59 in the grand final.^{[1][2][23][24][25]} In 2019, Lightning finished the regular season as minor premiers.^{[1][2][26][27]} They also played in their third successive grand final but this time, they were defeated by New South Wales Swifts.^[28][29] After three seasons as head coach at Lightning, Taurua resigned and was replaced by her assistant at the club, Kylee Byrne.^{[30][31][32][33]}

Regular season statistics

Season	Position	Won	Drawn	Lost
2017[34]	2nd	11	1	2
2018	4th	8	1	5
2019	1st	12	0	2
2020[35]	2nd	9	0	5
2021[36]	4th	8	0	6
2022[37]	8th	4	0	10
2023	5th	6	0	8
2024	4th	6	0	8
2025	5th	7	0	7

  Premierships
  Minor Premierships

Grand finals

Season	Winners	Score	Runners Up	Venue	Attendance	Ref
2017	Sunshine Coast Lightning	65–48	Giants Netball	Brisbane Entertainment Centre	8,999	[20][21][22]
2018	Sunshine Coast Lightning	62–59	West Coast Fever	Perth Arena	13,722	[23][24][25][38]
2019	New South Wales Swifts	64–47	Sunshine Coast Lightning	Brisbane Entertainment Centre		[28][29]

Home venues

Lightning play the majority of their home matches at USC Stadium.^[3][9][39] They have also occasionally played home matches at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.^[40][41]

Notable players

Main article: List of Sunshine Coast Lightning players

2025 squad

2025 Sunshine Coast Lightning roster view talk edit
Players	Coaching staff
Nat. Name Position(s) DoB Height Reilley Batcheldor GA, GS (2002-04-15) 15 April 2002 (age 23) 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Ava Black  C, WD (2003-06-12) 12 June 2003 (age 22) 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Courtney Bruce GK, GD (1993-12-08) 8 December 1993 (age 31) 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) Mahalia Cassidy C, WA, WD (1995-10-09) 9 October 1995 (age 29) 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) Ash Ervin GK, GD (2003-05-15) 15 May 2003 (age 22) 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Steph Fretwell (c) GA, WA, GS (1991-11-28) 28 November 1991 (age 33) 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) Maddie Hinchliffe WD, C (1998-05-25) 25 May 1998 (age 27) 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) Tara Hinchliffe (vc) GD, GK (1998-05-25) 25 May 1998 (age 27) 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Cara Koenen GS, GA (1996-02-27) 27 February 1996 (age 29) 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Kristiana Manu'a WD (1995-09-03) 3 September 1995 (age 29) 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Leesa Mi Mi WA, C (2001-05-18) 18 May 2001 (age 24) 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) Liz Watson WA, C (1994-03-30) 30 March 1994 (age 31) 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	Head coach Belinda Reynolds[42] Assistant coaches Jenny Brazel[43] Notes (c) – Captain (cc) – Co-captain (vc) – Vice-captain – Injury / maternity leave (TRP) – Temporary Replacement Player
Player profiles: Team website	Last updated: 27 May 2025

Internationals

 Australia

Caitlin Bassett Kelsey Browne Cara Koenen Laura Scherian Stephanie Wood Tara Hinchliffe Courtney Bruce Liz Watson

 England

• Geva Mentor
• Kate Shimmin

 Jamaica

• Kadie-Ann Dehaney

 New Zealand

• Laura Langman
• Erena Mikaere

 South Africa

• Phumza Maweni
• Karla Pretorius

 Uganda

• Peace Proscovia

Captains

	Years	Ref
Geva Mentor	2017–2018	[19][22][44]
Laura Langman	2019–2020	[45][46]
Karla Pretorius	2021	[47][48]
Stephanie Wood	2022–	[49]

Award winners

Super Netball

SSN Player of the Year

Season	Player	Ref
2017	Geva Mentor	[50][51]

Super Netball Grand Final Most Valuable Player

Season	Player	Ref
2017	Karla Pretorius	[20]
2018	Caitlin Bassett	[23]

Super Netball Team of the Year

Season	Players	Ref
2017	C: Laura Langman, GK: Geva Mentor	[52][34]
2018	GD: Karla Pretorius, GK: Geva Mentor	[53]
2019	GD: Karla Pretorius	[54]
2020	GD: Karla Pretorius Reserve: Cara Koenen	[55]

Lightning awards

Player of the Year

Season	Players	Ref
2017	Geva Mentor	[56]
2018	Stephanie Wood Karla Pretorius	[57]
2019	Karla Pretorius	[58]
2020	Karla Pretorius	[59]
2021	Stephanie Wood	[60]
2022	Mahalia Cassidy	[61]
2023	Stephanie Wood	[62]
2024	Liz Watson	[63]
2025	Steph Fretwell
	Cara Koenen

Players' Player of the Year

Season	Players	Ref
2017	Geva Mentor	[56]
2018	Karla Pretorius	[57]
2019	Karla Pretorius	[58]
2020	Karla Pretorius	[59]
2021	Cara Koenen	[60]
2022	Mahalia Cassidy	[61]
2023	Stephanie Wood	[62]
2024	Steph Fretwell	[63]
2025	Tara Hinchliffe

Team Spirit Award

Season	Players	Ref
2017	Laura Scherian	[56]
2018	Jacqui Russell	[57]
2019	Jacqui Russell	[58]
2020	Madeline McAuliffe	[59]
2021	Kate Shimmin	[60]
2023	Karla Pretorius	[62]
2024	Leesa Mi Mi	[63]
2025	Tara Hinchliffe

Members' Player of the Year

Season	Players	Ref
2017	Laura Langman	[56]
2018	Stephanie Wood	[57]
2019	Karla Pretorius	[58]
2020	Cara Koenen	[59]
2021	Cara Koenen	[60]
2022	Laura Scherian	[61]
2023	Stephanie Wood	[62]
2024	Ashleigh Ervin	[63]
2025	Mahalia Cassidy

Shooting statistics

(as at end of 2025 Suncorp Super Netball season)

					Super Shot
Seasons	Player	Goals	Attempts	%	Goals	Attempts	%
2017–18	Caitlin Bassett	1357	1454	93.33	–
2017–	Cara Koenen	3215	3548	90.61	26	57	45.61
2017–	Steph Fretwell	1860	2254	82.52	299	533	56.10
2019–21	Peace Proscovia	670	733	91.41	0	4	0.00
2020–21	Binnian Hunt	9	18	50.00	2	4	50.00
2020, 2022	Annabelle Lawrie	3	3	100.00	0	5	0.00
2022, 2024–	Reilley Batcheldor	360	406	88.67	97	182	53.30
2022	Annika Lee-Jones	2	4	50.00	–
2023–2024	Charlie Bell	29	34	85.29	0	2	0.00

Head coaches

Coach	Years	Ref
Noeline Taurua	2016–2019	[9][11][12][30][31][32][33]
Kylee Byrne	2019–2022	[30][31][32][33]
Belinda Reynolds	2023–	[64]

Reserve teams

Territory Storm

Between 2017 and 2019 Sunshine Coast Lightning formed a partnership with Territory Storm of the Australian Netball League. Storm were effectively Lightning's reserve team. In 2019, with a team featuring Lightning players Cara Koenen, Annika Lee-Jones, Peace Proscovia, and Jacqui Russell, Storm enjoyed one of their best seasons in the ANL, winning six matches and finishing fifth.^{[65][66][67][68][69][70]}

USC Thunder

Since 2019, USC Thunder have played in the HART Sapphire Series. They were formed as a partnership between Sunshine Coast Lightning and the University of the Sunshine Coast. They play home games at the USC Stadium.^[71][72][73]

Capital Darters

In 2019 it was announced that Sunshine Coast Lightning had formed a partnership with Capital Darters. Darters were due to play in the 2020 Australian Netball League season. However the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^{[74][75][76][77][78][79]}

Australian Netball Championships

In September 2021, Sunshine Coast Lightning were due to enter a reserve team in the inaugural Australian Netball Championships tournament.^[80][81] However, this tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lightning's ANC team subsequently played in a four team series, playing against Queensland Sapphires, the Queensland Suns men's netball team and PacificAus Sports, a Pacific Islander select.^{[73][82][83][84]}

Premierships

• Super Netball
  • Winners: 2017, 2018
  • Runners Up: 2019
  • Minor Premierships: 2019