Sydney Sandpipers

Sydney Sandpipers were an Australian netball team based in Sydney. Between 1997 and 2003, they represented Netball New South Wales in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league. Together with Sydney Swifts and Hunter Jaegers, they were one of three teams to represent NNSW in the competition. In 1997 Sandpipers were founder members of the league. They continued to play in the competition until 2003, when they were replaced by Hunter Jaegers.

Sydney Sandpipers

Founded	1996
Disbanded	2003
Based in	Sydney
Region	New South Wales
Home venue	Anne Clark Netball Centre State Sports Centre
League	Commonwealth Bank Trophy
Uniform

Commonwealth Bank Trophy

Between 1997 and 2003, Sydney Sandpipers played in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league.^[1][2][3] Together with Adelaide Ravens, Adelaide Thunderbirds, Melbourne Kestrels, Melbourne Phoenix, Perth Orioles, Queensland Firebirds and Sydney Swifts, Sandpipers were one of the founding members of the league. The majority of the teams were named after native Australian birds. The team was initially referred to as Sydney Eagles before been re-named Sydney Sandpipers after the sandpiper.^[1][4] Together with Sydney Swifts and Hunter Jaegers, Sandpipers were one of three teams to represent Netball New South Wales in the competition.^[5]

Sydney Sandpipers best performance in the league came in 2000. With a team featuring Natalie Avellino and Joanne Morgan, they finished third in the regular season, above their neighbours, Sydney Swifts.^[6] Sandpipers continued to play in the competition until 2003. NNSW withdrew the team from the competition, saying it was unable to support a second Sydney-based team. NNSW successfully applied to replace Sandpipers with a new team based outside the Sydney metropolitan area and in 2004 they were replaced by the Newcastle-based Hunter Jaegers.^{[2][3][7][8][9]}

Regular season statistics

Season	Position	Won	Lost	Drawn
1997[4]	4th	7	7	0
1998[4]	6th	4	9	1
1999[6]	6th	3	11	0
2000[6]	3rd	9	4	1
2001[10][11]	4th	9	5	0
2002[10]	5th	7	6	1
2003[7]	5th	5	9	0

Home venues

In 1997 Sandpipers played their home games at the Anne Clark Netball Centre in Lidcombe. In 1998 they moved to the State Sports Centre.^[12]

Notable former players

Internationals

 Australia

Megan Anderson Natalie Avellino Nicole Cusack Sharon Finnan Mo'onia Gerrard

Alex Hodge Sue Kenny Joanne Morgan Susan Pratley Carissa Tombs

 England

• Abby Teare

Captains

Captains	Years
Sue Kenny	1997–1998
Carissa Tombs	1999
Joanne Morgan[13]	2000–2003 (Note 1)
Natalie Avellino[14]	2001–2002 (Note 1)

Notes

• ^1 In 2001 and 2002, Joanne Morgan and Natalie Avellino were co-captains.

Source:^[1][3]

Most Appearances

Players	Matches
Natalie Avellino	71
Joanne Morgan	68
Mo'onia Gerrard	67
Danielle Harvey	53
Nicole McMahon	51
Katrina McCaffery	37
Kirsten Moore	36
Christine O'Connor	34
Penny Wannop	29
Alison Tucker	27
Kristy Doyle	27
Sharon Finnan	27
Alex Hodge	26
Carissa Tombs	25
Vicki Roberts	25

Sources:^[2][3]

Award Winners

Best New Talent

Season	Player
1999[15]	Mo'onia Gerrard

Head coaches

Coach	Years	Matches	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %
Margaret Corbett[16]	1997–2000	43	14	28	1	33%
Lenore Blades[17]	2000–2001	30	18	11	1	60%
Anita Keelan[18][19]	2002–2003	28	12	15	1	43%

Source:^[1][2][3]

Sponsorship

Sponsors	Seasons
Decoré [12]	1997–2003 ?
Sydney University[11]	2001