KEY POINTS:
Yvonne Willering would dearly love to be revealing her squad for next year's new transtasman netball league, but for now she is content to unveil the Auckland team's new name, logo and major sponsor.
The greater Auckland team, which combines the Counties Manukau, Auckland-Waitakere and Netball North regions, will be known as the Northern Mystics, with LG Electronics as the naming rights sponsor.
After months of hard work behind the scenes, the Mystics coach said it was good that the franchise could reveal the progress it had made in putting things together for the inaugural ANZ Championship.
Of course, Willering would like to have a team to go with it, but delays with setting up the New Zealand netball players' association meant the Kiwi franchises were unable to contract any players.
"As a coach you always want your team, but just being part of it and seeing it all develop has been really interesting as well," she said.
The franchise wanted an all-new name that reflected the joining of forces of three netball regions. Willering said the name Mystics was suitable because of its sense of magic and mystery.
"It represents the element of the unknown and I guess that's what we're getting into."
The new naming rights sponsor also fitted with the uncharted territory the game was entering.
In a new approach, Willering said, "I have been told I have to smile more this coming year.
"It's quite good. It is a relatively new company and this is a new competition so it just ties in nicely."
Because it is new territory, Willering has had to sit back and go with the flow a certain extent.
But she admitted it had been frustrating not to have established her line-up by now. With the collective contracts still needing to be completed with the players' association, the franchises were in a holding pattern until the contractual issues were sorted out.
After months of delays Willering hopes to assemble her team before Christmas.
"From the moment I had the job I was going, 'Righto, give me my team.' I was ready for action. We hope to name a team relatively soon."
A number of players had signalled their intent to play for the Mystics and Willering said they would carry on with their individual training as they wait to put pen to paper.
"At the moment we've got a sort of holding tank for a number of players, and these are elite players, they're players who want to make the competition so they'll still be carrying on with their training."
Despite the verbal commitment from a number of players, Willering said she would feel more relaxed once she had the contracts signed.
But the frustration is not just confined to Willering. The uncertainty is affecting all the players and franchises.
With eight Kiwi franchises effectively being reduced to five for the new transtasman competition, a number of top-class players may miss out on a place in the league or be forced to move outside their region.
"I think every franchise is feeling it and the players must be feeling it as well. You have to appreciate some of the players are going to miss out on the franchise of their choice, mainly to travel.
"This means they've got to start organising all that. Some of the players have children so they are at the stage where they'd like to know where they sit with it as well."
