The Sapphire Series (also known as the Hart Sapphire Series under

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...

) is a

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

league featuring teams from

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. The league is organised by

Netball Queensland Netball Queensland is the governing body for netball in Queensland. It is affiliated to Netball Australia. It is responsible for organizing and managing Queensland Firebirds who compete in Suncorp Super Netball. It is also responsible for organiz ...

. The current semi-professional league was first played for during the 2019 season. It replaced earlier state leagues organised by Netball Queensland as the top level netball competition in Queensland. On a national level, the HART Sapphire Series is effectively a third level league. Reserve teams compete in the Ruby Series. The

Firebirds Futures The Firebirds Futures are an Australian netball team that represents Netball Queensland in the Australian Netball Championships. Between 2008 and 2019, as Queensland Fusion, they played in the Australian Netball League. From 2020 to 2022, the ...

are the representative team of the Sapphire Series. They originally played as Queensland Fusion, and then in 2021 were re-branded Queensland Sapphires after the Sapphire Series.

History

Earlier state leagues

Between 2001 and 2018,

organised a series of

state leagues A state league is a level of competition in Australian sport directly below that of a national league. Most of these competitions are based in a single state or territory, and from this the term originates. State leagues are generally semi-profess ...

. These included the Dairy Farmers Cup, the Holden Astra Cup, the Holden Cruze Cup, the Queensland Champions Cup and the Queensland State Netball League.

2019

In 2019 the founding members of the Sapphire Series included Bond University Bull Sharks, Brisbane North Cougars,

Carina Leagues Club Tigers Carina Leagues Club Tigers, also known as CLC Tigers, are an netball in Australia, Australian netball team based in East Brisbane, Queensland, East Brisbane. Their senior team plays in the HART Sapphire Series. They also enter teams in Netball ...

, Ipswich Jets, Moreton Bay/USC Thunder, Northern Rays and QUT Wildcats. The inaugural season began on 25 June 2019, with a match which saw Thunder defeat Bull Sharks 53–44. QUT Wildcats were the inaugural premiers after defeating Cougars 60–49 in the grand final.

2020

Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the 2020 season took place later then planned. Northern Rays were unable to compete due to travel restrictions, so the second season went ahead with six teams in the Sapphire Series.

Cougars The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, '' KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North, Central and South America, making it the most widely distributed wild ...

, Jets, Wildcats,

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is tradition ...

, Bullsharks and Thunder also entered the Ruby Series were they joined by a seventh team, Darling Downs Panthers. Cougars finished the season as premiers after defeating Jets 62–47 in the grand final.

2021

The 2021 Sapphire Series featured eight teams with the return of Northern Rays and the debut of QUT Netball. Brisbane North Cougars finished the season as premiers after defeating QUT Netball 70–45 in the grand final.

2022

In December 2021 it was announced that

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership, Australia's elite rugby league competition. Since 2008, the ...

would enter a team in the 2022 Sapphire Series.

Teams

;Notes * Brisbane South Wildcats were originally partnered with

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

and were known as QUT Wildcats. * Darling Downs Panthers only play in the Ruby Series. * Gold Coast Titans are the netball team of

* USC Thunder were originally known as Moreton Bay Thunder. They are partnered with both the

University of the Sunshine Coast The University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC; formerly abbreviated as USC until 2022) is a public university based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. After opening with 524 students in 1996 as the Sunshine Coast University College, it ...

and

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 Suncor ...

. * USQ Jets Netball Club were originally known as Ipswich Jets. They are partnered with both the

University of Southern Queensland The University of Southern Queensland is a public research university based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, the sixth largest city in the Australian state of Queensland Founded in 1967 after a successful campaign by the local Darling Down ...

and

Ipswich Jets The Ipswich Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Ipswich, Queensland. Their name comes from nearby RAAF Base Amberley, one of the largest airbases in Australia. The Jets compete in the Queensland Cup competition. Original ...

Venues

The majority of Sapphire Series matches are played at the

Queensland State Netball Centre The Queensland State Netball Centre, also known commercially as Nissan Arena, is a multi-purpose facility located in the southern Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The centre features a 5,000 seat indoor arena that is the home court of Super Netball ...

. Northern Rays play their home games in

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its Tropical North Queensland, trop ...

, while the remaining teams can play two home games in their own venue each season.

Representative team

Queensland Sapphires are the representative team of the HART Sapphire Series. They originally played as Queensland Fusion. In 2021 they were re-branded Queensland Sapphires after the Sapphire Series.

Division 1 grand finals

;Dairy Farmers Cup ;Holden Astra Cup ;Holden Cruze Cup ;Queensland Champions Cup ;Queensland State Netball League Division 1 ;Sapphire Series

Awards

;Katie Walker Medal The Sapphire Series

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

award is named after

Katie Walker Katie Walker (April 12, 1969) is a British furniture designer well known for combining simple components in her work. Her designs combine the function of the object with a sculptural interpretation of its structure. She works with craft and volum ...

. ;Sapphire Series Grand Final MVP:

Ruby Series

Grand finals

Awards

;Ruby Series Season MVP ;Ruby Series Grand Final MVP

Main sponsors

References

External links

HART Sapphire Series on Facebook
{{Netball leagues Netball in Queensland Netball leagues in Australia Queensland Sapphires Sports competitions in Queensland 2019 establishments in Australia Sports leagues established in 2019