But this isn't about the blokes in oversized shorts. This one is about the women in short, vibrant-coloured tunics.
In claiming their historic victory over the Southern Steel, the Robyn Broughton-coached Pulse also registered their first victory in the Bay since the ANZ (Transtasman) Championship began in 2008.
Starry-eyed young girls in the company of parents, grandparents and friends showed interest in netball remains high in the province.
The code has grappled with a fair share of its demons over the years, struggling to shed the image of mediocrity.
It hasn't helped that the Hawke's Bay segment of the Eastern netball region, which embraces areas as far north as Gisborne, mirrored the divisiveness of the Hastings and Napier cities.
Furthermore, the politicking has had a detrimental effect in helping countless frustrated coaches pave a pothole-free pathway for potential talent to aspire to becoming tomorrow's Pulse or Silver Ferns.
Draconian methods and stubborn administrators bickering over petty issues have impeded progress as talent drifted to other major franchises to prosper.
Former Woodford House player Charlotte Kight, a former national age-group representative who flirted with Silver Ferns selection, and Waipukurau-born Jodi Tod, who is expecting a baby soon, immediately come to mind, to name a few Bay products.
That the Katrina Grant-led Pulse can draw a full house without a single Bay-bred player speaks volumes of the passion the region has for netball.
A few years ago, former Silver Ferns defender Tanya Dearns, of Napier, started an academy with the help of development officer Kim Howard as part of an Eastern netball initiative.
They called for nominations from the respective centres in the Eastern catchment before holding trials for 100 youngsters in its inaugural year.
Dearns and Howard culled that herd to 40 but two years later the academy shut shop.
While today the Pulse have not approached Dearns for assistance, Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic coach Noeline Taurua has asked the former rock of Gibralter to help her squad with defence in a fortnight in Tauranga.
In fairness to Eastern, they also have asked Dearns for help but it'll be interesting to see what transpires.
Considering Candis Cardie is the only Bay player who has found any modicum of traction with the Pulse squad in the yesteryear, it shows the Bay need a solid platform on which to build youngsters to foot it at that level.
Realistically, it could take at least five years for some bolter to slip on the yellow bib.
For now, I'm told the changing of guards in the Hastings and Napier centres has got the ball rolling on an amicable solution.
