Located in Toowoomba's Kearneys Spring, Nell E Robinson Park is the home of netball in the Darling Downs region. The association runs Wednesday night and Saturday competitions with players from 12 clubs, alongside junior and senior representative programs and inter-district carnivals, with the hard courts in near-constant use across all of them.
Jordin Sports were appointed to build four new courts, and re-align and refurbish nineteen existing courts, with California Sports Surfaces' Rebound Ace Synpave chosen as the preferred surface system. Installation was completed with the application expertise of Brad Baker from All About Courts. Based on pure acrylic resins, the system is colourfast, weather-resistant, UV-resistant and long-wearing, with a slip-resistant texture that is not diminished by constant use, making it well-suited to the facility’s size and intensity of use. For netball specifically, the topcoat was purpose-designed to provide a hard-wearing non-slip surface in both dry and wet conditions, with cushioned Rebound Ace Systems long established as the preferred surface for netball in Australia and New Zealand.
The project specified a custom two-tone finish in Catalina and Capri Blue – two vivid, bright blues that give the resurfaced courts a cohesive look across the full complex. Synpave's acrylic topcoat is formulated with vibrantly pigmented, UV-stable colour, ensuring the finish holds its intensity under Queensland conditions long-term.
The redevelopment, partially funded by a $1.65 million grant through the Australian Government's “Play Our Way program” has already delivered beyond the courts themselves. Netball Queensland has since announced Toowoomba Netball Association as host of the 2027 Senior State Age carnival, which is one of Queensland's largest participation events for athletes aged 15 to 18. It marks the first time the region has hosted the state-wide carnival in over 40 years.
It's a trend playing out across Queensland's outdoor sporting landscape. Netball Queensland has helped secure $156 million in government investment towards netball and multi-sport facility developments state-wide, with registered participant numbers growing 6.5 per cent in 2025. As participation grows and associations invest in their facilities, the demand for quality outdoor netball court surfaces is following. Work like this demonstrates what's possible when surface specification is treated as central to the outdoor facility design brief, rather than an afterthought.
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