Coronavirus: Scottish netball will need sponsors 'more than ever' says CEO

All games in the Netball Superleague were suspended on Sunday

Scottish netball will need their partners and sponsors "more than ever" to survive without games, according to Netball Scotland chief executive Claire Nelson.

All activity within Scotland was suspended on Saturday, including the cross-border Superleague involving the Strathclyde Sirens.

Although Nelson agrees with the decision to halt play, she does fear for the franchise's future.

"I hope we can survive," said Nelson.

• Netball Superleague season suspended

"This is where we have to work with our fantastic partners. We've just brought in some fantastic partners this year and I hope they weather the storm with us through thick and thin, because that's what investing in women's sport is.

"You're not buying logos, you're investing in the growth of women's sport and we need them now more than ever. It is going to be really difficult but we're not the only team or organisation facing this and at the moment here there's a much broader thing that is bigger than sport."

The Superleague season was set to run until late May before the league made the decision to suspend all games in a bid to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

Yet a lack of match-day income from the league now puts further pressure on the Strathclyde Sirens to find income from other sponsors.

And Nelson believes the Scottish club - which is owned entirely by Netball Scotland - will live or die on the support it gets from its commercial partners.

"What we're hoping is that we can reschedule some things," said Nelson. "If not, then they'll be cancelled and moved to next year and in the meantime we'll look at the support structure we can still provide.

"The Superleague presents a far greater challenge. Our franchise, Strathclyde Sirens, is completely owned by Netball Scotland but is completely commercially funded.

"So we rely on that income from sponsorship and ticket sales. For us it is pretty devastating to not have a league this year but what we'll be looking at is speaking to the other franchises in England to see how we can mitigate that.

"Because there is an appetite for the sport - we've had record ticket sales across the league - and we want to try and keep that going."