A new chapter for Sydney netball has been met with controversy after the former Giants Netball franchise officially unveiled its new identity as the Sydney Sirens.

The rebrand was announced this week by new owners Sports Entertainment Group (SEG), with the team set to compete in Super Netball from the 2027 season.

The new Sirens identity features coral and teal colours, a trident inspired logo and the slogan “…impossible to ignore”, as the club looks to establish itself as one of the major brands in Australian women’s sport.

But there is one major problem Sydney already has a Sirens sporting team.

The existing Sydney Sirens are a women’s ice hockey team and one of the founding members of the Australian Women’s Ice Hockey League, which began in 2007.

The team has built more than two decades of history under the Sirens name and has won three national championships.

Dawn Watt, president of Ice Hockey NSW and the original coach of the ice hockey Sirens, says the news came as a major shock.

Watt says the name has significant personal and historical importance to the club and fears the smaller ice hockey organisation could eventually be forced to change its identity.

SEG lodged a trademark application for “Sydney Sirens” earlier this month before officially unveiling the new netball identity.

The ice hockey organisation is now considering legal action to oppose the trademark application.

Watt says the club has already spoken with a lawyer and intends to protect the name it has used for years.

The situation creates an unusual clash between two women’s sporting teams operating in the same city and using the same name.

While teams across Australian sport can share nicknames, having two clubs with the same city identifier and team name is far less common.

There is a possibility the two organisations could work together, with the netball club saying it wants to establish an ongoing relationship with the ice hockey Sirens.

However, the ice hockey club’s priority remains protecting its existing identity.

For a team operating with significantly fewer resources than a professional Super Netball franchise, a legal battle could also prove expensive.

The controversy comes as the new Sydney Sirens prepare for their first Super Netball season, with midcourter Amy Sligar already committing to the club on a new three year deal.

For now, Sydney has two sporting teams carrying the Sirens name and the battle over who gets to keep it could become one of the more unusual stories in Australian sport.