The Sunshine Coast’s elite netball team — Sunshine Coast Lightning — has been crowned a winner at the Sunshine Coast Business Awards for the second year in a row.
Coming away victorious in the Festivals & Events category, Lightning was recognised for its immense success post-COVID, with the Club welcoming more than 17,000 spectators in 2022 — bouncing back to pre-COVID audiences.
Lightning’s success transcends the netball court, with its impact spanning multiple sectors, providing national and international exposure to the Sunshine Coast, contributing to the region as a sports entertainment product, growing regional athlete pathways, promoting healthy living and contributing to community outreach.
Lightning CEO Danielle Smith said she was proud to be part of such an important event on the Sunshine Coast and to come away with an award.
“The Sunshine Coast Business Awards are highly sought-after on the Coast and that was evident with the impressive turnout of finalists on the night — with more than 800 people in the room at the Sunshine Coast Convention Centre,” she said.
“To come away successful with this award for the second year running makes me incredibly proud of our Club and our people. It takes a massive team effort to deliver our game days and events — from our amazing athletes, staff and volunteers, to our incredible partners, suppliers and service providers — and of course our passionate members and fans bring our events to life, proudly supporting the team and creating an incredible community atmosphere at UniSC Stadium. We extend our thanks and gratitude to all these people who contributed to us winning this award.”
Lightning’s game day experience is consistently ranked number one in the Suncorp Super Netball league, with Netball Australia’s Game Day Pulse Survey revealing Lightning had the highest Net Promoter Score and Customer Satisfaction Score of all the Clubs across the SSN competition.
The Sunshine Coast’s longest established business awards have been celebrating business success since 1995 and have been managed by the Sunshine Coast Chamber Alliance since 2018 — bringing a stronger, region-wide focus to the prestigious awards.
The Awards recognise the many impressive business success stories throughout the region and provide exceptional networking events for the local business community throughout the year.
