The Melbourne Storm Group have become the sole owner of Suncorp Super Netball club, Sunshine Coast Lightning, following the announcement the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) has transitioned from being a part-owner to a principal partner.

The Melbourne Storm Group and USC had held joint ownership of the club since the establishment of Lightning in 2016.

The move will likely see Lightning further develop their collaboration with Melbourne Storm, while USC will continue to invest heavily in the club and will remain on the front and back of Lightning’s dress, with the club to also remain at USC Stadium.

Lightning CEO, Danielle Smith, who also holds a position as a Melbourne Storm Group board member, said: “USC has been instrumental in our success to date.”

“Our athletes are privileged to train at USC’s high-performance facilities, which are amongst the best in Australia, and to also have access to their high-performance expertise and research.

“And of course we have a unique advantage playing our home matches at USC Stadium in front of capacity crowds of passionate Lightning members and fans.

“Lightning and USC both have a strong focus on community engagement, and that will continue to be a key pillar of our partnership,” Smith said.

USC vice-chancellor and president, Helen Bartlett, said USC was proud of its role in establishing Lightning as one of the world’s top professional netball teams and the first national sporting team to be based on the Sunshine Coast.

“The University is delighted to see Lightning enter this next phase as a well-established organisation and we are proud to continue our support of the club as both a foundation principal partner and the official tertiary education partner,” Bartlett said.

Melbourne Storm CEO, Justin Rodski, said the move further strengthens the NRL’s club’s commitment to the Sunshine Coast region.

“We know from experience at Storm that you need genuine partners with a shared vision from a very early stage if you want to have success in a highly competitive sporting market…,” Rodski said.

“Lightning is an integral part of the Storm Group, adding geographic and gender diversity to our unique portfolio offering, while upholding the same values around people, community and elite success,” he said.