Cardiff Dragons have been selected as one of eight franchises in the revamped Netball Super League for next season.

Their selection comes after the conclusion of a “robust” eight-month selection process, seeing them join fellow existing franchises Manchester Thunder, Loughborough Lightning, London Pulse and Leeds Rhinos.

Saracens Mavericks are to be renamed London Mavericks, whilst there are places for new franchises Nottingham Forest Netball and Birmingham Panthers.

However, there is no place for Team Bath, Strathclyde Sirens, Surrey Storm or Severn Stars.

The move also sees a reduction in squad sizes from 15 to 10 players in a bid to make the league more competitive, while attempting to ensure the financial stability of the league as players are offered larger professional contracts.

Per the press release by Netball Super League, the plan also includes increasing the average salary of players by 60%, whilst more than half of the games in the 2025 season will be at major arenas.

“We’re looking to be Cardiff’s first full-time professional club for women and that’s really exciting, previously players have had to balance two or maybe three different jobs,” said Dragons CEO Vicki Sutton.

“They do that while training 10 or 12 hours a week and it’s challenging for them, so I’m thrilled about the announcement and the players can benefit sooner rather than later.

“There’re three phases to this 10-year plan, the first phase is three years, as is the second phase and then the final one is four years and the expectations for player salaries will increase in every phase.

“Next year, whilst we’re seeing higher salaries, they aren’t probably enough for all of them to stop their jobs just yet but it’s a step in the right direction and it may not be too long before that happens.

“The 13,14,15-year-olds playing no in their clubs, when they’re thinking about their career path, as of today they can want to be a professional player.”

The hope will be that a rise in professionalism will give players a better opportunity to reach their potential and therefore improve the standard of domestic netball in England and Wales. The challenge then is to bring enough eyes on the new product.

“Every game will be on TV, that’s the commitment that’s been made,” said Sutton.

“My ambition is to make these players household names, like your Aaron Ramsey’s and Leigh Halfpenny’s and we’ll get there. The viewership and interest is increasing and this investment will help that.

“It’s brilliant we’re in and we’re absolutely going to make the most of this process and I’m thrilled we’re one of the eight.

“It’s great to see a football club in Nottingham Forest getting involved, a powerhouse premier league club getting involved in our league.

Sutton acknowledges the process has at times been challenging and that it was a difficult wait after a “robust” data and interview process, but it has been well worth the weight.

“It was an eight month of a really robust application with lots of data and detail, 13 different sections with different ratings, submitted in January,” said Sutton.

“It hasn’t been easy, but the right way to go about it. If you’re committing to something for ten years it shouldn’t come easy, if it was then everyone would do it.

“I’m thrilled for the work and effort we’ve put in, we’ve reaped the rewards for the last three years from where we were to where we are now.”

Captain Nia Jones, says the news is “massive” and feels like a “day that would never come.”

“It’s so exciting and from a players perspective it’s pretty much a dream come true, it’s exactly what you want to do, to be a professional athlete day in day out,” said Jones.

“The fact we’re going to be training more, focusing more on things like analysis and recovery, it means everything will improve which hopefully means a better product for the fans as well.”