Alexa Prinno jokes that her overnight success story has been more than10 years in the making. More commonly known as ‘Your Netball Bestie’ on her socials, Prinno is passionate about showcasing the sport to an ever-growing audience.
“I’ve been creating content for 16 years, and my account didn’t start as netball. I had a TikTok account, YouTube and Instagram, but I didn’t have a niche. I threw spaghetti at the wall to see what stuck, and it felt like work. I’d never found anything that came naturally.
“Then during my netball season, I started putting related content up and people seemed to resonate with it. During the 2024 Super Netball season I started putting up more and it quickly became the only thing I wanted to do.
“So I decided to take the risk, came up with a name for myself, went through the long trademarking process, and leant right into it.”
Alexa’s TikTok following grows every day. Since taking this screenshot in early March, she has accumulated 2000 more followers.
Prinno has two key drivers behind her work – introducing Super Netball and its athletes to more viewers, and encouraging young girls and women to stay in team sport.
Almost 50% of teenage girls drop out of physical activity, peaking at the age of 15, with factors ranging from menstrual challenges to perceived lack of role models, body confidence issues, and a lack of study time. In good news for netball, it has one of the lower dropout rates, mainly because its uniforms are less revealing than some other sports.
Keeping young women active is a topic Prinno feels strongly about. “I grew up without a sister or close relationship with my mother – I had little guidance and had to figure it out on my own. So I dropped out of sport as a teenager and that’s been one of my biggest regrets. Team sport has brought me so much joy and so much purpose, and I lost that when I wasn’t playing sport.
“I’m getting a lot of DMs from young girls and the problems they were having staying in sport. Those messages hit home, and I started to think about how I would want someone to speak to my own daughter. I wanted to help, to be a little bit of a guide.
“Those girls have become a huge part of my audience, so while I never set out to be a role model, I do feel quite a responsibility to them. I don’t have all the answers, but I’m doing some deeper chats to camera on mindset and addressing real life issues that relate back to netball, based on those DMs.”
@alexaprinno NETBALL TRIALS – what do they look for? SAVE for later. Instagram post by @NETFIT Netball #netball #netballers #netballtok #netballtrials #yournetballbestie ♬ original sound – Alexa | Your Netball Bestie ™
Research has also shown that there’s a major disconnect between the number of people playing grassroots netball – around 1.2 million in Australia – and those who watch Super Netball games. Prinno said, “I was 100% that statistic, not tuning into SSN until well into my twenties. So part of my purpose is encouraging more people to watch our athletes growing the sport, getting more people watching as well as playing.
“Some of my content includes thoughts on SSN games, the Diamonds games, plus netball tips and tricks, as well as the comedy skits.”
In one of her clips, for example, Prinno put together a guide to watching the 2025 season. She went through the backlog of 2024 events and athletes, coming up with a short TikTok on major talking points and athletes to look out for. “I was trying to explain things from the perspective of someone who hasn’t watched it, but also someone who has and wants a refresh.
“The goal was to make it less intimidating to start watching, know what’s going on and who people are.”
@alexaprinno MUST WATCH before the SSN 2025 season starts. If you are a netball player who wants to start watching netball this year or you’re netball obsessed and just want a refresh on last years netball drama. #netball #netballtok #netballers @West Coast Fever @nswswifts @GIANTS Netball @Queensland Firebirds @sunshinecoastlightning @Melbourne Vixens @Melbourne Mavericks @Adelaide Thunderbirds @Netball Scoop @The Netty Life podcast @NetTeaPod @Suncorp @Netball Australia ♬ original sound – Alexa | Your Netball Bestie ™
The Perth-based Prinno started her working career as a music journalist, interviewing bands for YouTube. She moved to Melbourne to emcee St Kilda festivals, train as an actress and double as a presenter. So with a 16 year history of film production and an obsession with netball, Prinno has the attributes – and work ethic – to make a success of Your Netball Bestie.
She said, “There’s a lot that goes into content that people don’t realise. I know about the technical side of content creation and production, and I also know about structuring it, engagement rates, and brand alignment. Then there’s research into current trends, and crediting other content creators when I might reference their work or thoughts.
“At the same time, it has to be fun. I wanted to make quality content that I enjoyed, that could add value and people resonated with.
@alexaprinno We all do this at netball right? 🙈 💅 #netball #netballers #netballtok ♬ original sound – Alexa | Your Netball Bestie ™
“It’s about finding the right niche, so that it doesn’t feel like work. I just love it, and the feedback that I get is that they like my passion and it comes through on the screen.”
While Prinno believes that social media has an important role to play in promoting all sports, it’s crucial for those with less funding than the block-buster male codes.
“We want to inspire a whole generation of people to love netball and grow it nationally as well as internationally. Social media is the main thing that matters in this regard. In this era, it’s going to reach the most amount of people in a relatable way.
“It’s the way most people consume content – short form, on our phones, and it needs to catch people’s attention. All of those things matter.
“The Super Netball clubs have really leant into this year. They’ve been spitting out so much content and its really high quality.
“It’s particularly important when you are looking at reaching that younger audience – they are absorbing their media and information almost exclusively from TikTok at this point. Social media is 100% pivotal and I hope it continues to grow.”
With almost 43 000 followers and a wealth of knowledge, Prinno knows what’s she talking about. Her rates of engagement support this, with her most popular netball video on TikTok so far – a shoe lace hack – having close to 600 000 views and 50 200 likes.
@alexaprinno This has saved my ankles! I still use ankle braces when I play netball for extra support and this really helps grip my foot, so it’s more secure and reduces the risk of injury during my netball games and netball training. My podiatrist taught me this and I can’t believe how many people like me, had no idea. Absolute GAME CHANGER. #netball #netballshoes #shoehack #netballtok #netballers #extraholeonshoe #howtotieyourshoes ♬ original sound – Alexa | Your Netball Bestie ™
Together with best friend Jenna-lee Young, Prinno is developing a YouTube channel called Your Netball Besties. They will launch during the Team Girls Cup, interviewing players and analysing matches, and will follow it up with regular deep dives into the Super Netball season.
“My target audience is people like me – we love netball, we all have the same problems, the same challenges and things we relate to and laugh about.
“My goal is to keep content as real and relatable as possible.”
You can find Alex Prinno – Your Netball Bestie – on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram channels @alexaprinno
Alexa Prinno. Image: The Pink Tank
