Ferguson was part of three Firebirds’ premierships during her illustrious playing career, claiming titles in 2011, 2015 and 2016 as the club’s vice-captain and playing for the club from 2007 to her retirement in 2016.
She also made 15 appearances for Australia, captaining the Diamonds to gold in the 2016 Quad Series and Constellation Cup.
Since retiring Ferguson has worked in coaching roles with the Firebirds and Diamonds, established the Fuel2Fly programme with former teammate Laura Geitz and has practised as a speech pathologist.
“Having someone with Clare’s deep experience as an elite netballer elected to the NQ board is a significant and exciting outcome,” NQ Chair Leanne Coddington said.
“Not only does Clare know what it takes to succeed at the highest level in our sport, but she has a wide variety of skills and experiences away from netball for us to draw upon.”
NQ Board and Members thanked outgoing elected Director, Marg Cedar, for her contribution to the organisation and particularly recognised her input and guidance on community netball initiatives and strategy.
Wednesday’s meeting also included the announcement of NQ’s first Life Membership since 2015, with Emerald Netball Association president Nanette Hall’s extraordinary service to the sport recognised.
A founding member of the Emerald Netball Association (ENA) in 1978, Hall was elected as an Honorary Life Member of Netball Queensland.
Nanette's unwavering dedication to netball and her outstanding leadership have been instrumental in the growth and success of the ENA, which now boasts over 400 members.
Her tireless efforts include being a backbone of the ENA for all but two years since its formation and convening the Emerald Junior Netball Carnival, now known as the Hall Family Carnival, for the past 22 years.
An ENA life member, Nanette has been the Central Highlands Regional Council Sports Administrator of the Year and is an inaugural inductee into the Central Highlands Sports Hall of Fame.
“NQ is honoured to recognise Nanette's contributions and looks forward to continuing to benefit from her wisdom and passion,” NQ CEO Kate Davies said.
NQ’s Legacy Life Members were also recognised at the meeting with a presentation honouring them to coincide with Hall’s Life Membership award.
NQ was also pleased to announce to members strong financial results for the 2023 financial year.
For the second year in a row, NQ posted a strong profit at EBITDA level (earnings before interest taxation depreciation and amortisation) with an EBITDA profit of $337,660 for the 2023 financial year (2022 EBITDA profit was $285,590).
Pleasingly, the organisation also made a small net profit of $2,750 after depreciation and finance costs, which NQ has not achieved since 2018 (in terms of both an EBITDA and Net Profit excluding extraordinary items), which will be the new benchmark for the company.
NQ increased its revenues to $16.13m an increase of circa nine per cent, which was largely attributable to the strong 12% growth in NQ Membership thanks to the outstanding work by Member Associations, their Clubs and the NQ Community team. Healthy revenue increases were also achieved across community competitions and participation activities, government grants, Nissan Arena and a sizeable circa 24% increase in Firebirds membership and ticketing revenues.
From a balance sheet perspective, NQ retains a strong position with total assets of $6.4m and a solid positive working capital position of $2.7m.
Off the back of the net profit result, net assets and retained earnings of NQ rose slightly to $3.735m.
After a hugely successful initial 12 months in the position, Leanne Coddington was re-elected as NQ board chair, ensuring her continued stewardship as NQ strives to implement the vision outlined in its strategic plan. Simone Waugh was also reaffirmed as Deputy Chair.
The 2023 NQ Annual Report is accessible here.
