This article needs to be updated.(February 2017) |
Country | Australia |
---|---|
Governing body | Netball Australia |
National team(s) | Australia |
Nickname(s) | Diamonds |
First played | Early 1897 |
Registered players | 360,000 |
National competitions | |
Club competitions | |
International competitions | |
Audience records | |
Single match | 2015 Netball World Cup, 16,752, 16 August 2015, Sydney Super Dome [1] |
Netball is the most popular women's team participation sport in Australia. [2] In 1985, there were 347,000 players, [3] and in 1995, there were over 360,000 Australian netball players. [4] Throughout most of Australia's netball history, the game has largely been a participation sport; it has not managed to become a large spectator sport. [5] In 2005 and 2006, 56,100 Australians attended one to two netball matches, of these, 41,600 were women. [6] 46,200 attended three to five netball matches, with 34,400 of those spectators being women. [6] 86,400 attended six or more netball matches, with 54,800 spectators being female. [6] Overall, 188,800 people attended netball matches, with 130,800 being female. [6] In 2005 and 2006, netball was the 10th most popular spectator sport for women with Australian rules football (1,011,300), horse racing (912,200), rugby league (542,600), motor sports (462,100), rugby union (232,400), football (212,200), harness racing (190,500), cricket (183,200) and tennis (163,500) all being more popular. [6] The country set an attendance record for a Netball match with a record crowd of 14,339 at the Australia–New Zealand Netball Test held at the Sydney Super Dome game in 2004. [7]
Netball, at the time called "women's basketball" (distinct from the form of basketball played by women), was introduced to Australia reportedly as early as 1897, [8] although most sources agree that it was established in that country around the start of the 20th century. [9] Interstate competition began in 1924, with the All-Australia Women's Basketball Association formed in 1927. An All-Australian Tournament, later called the Australian National Championships, was first contested between states in 1928, when it was won by Victoria. [10] During the 1930s in Australia, much of the participation in netball at universities was not organised, and players were not required to register. [11] It was believed that this was a positive for Netball as it allowed people to participate who might not have participated otherwise. [11] Australia's national team toured England in 1957. [12] This tour resulted in a number of Commonwealth countries meeting together in order to try to standardize the rules of the game. [12] The sport's name "netball" became official in Australia in 1940. [13] [14]
In Australia 80% of all netball played is played at netball clubs. [4] The number of Netball Clubs around Australia has been in decline since the 1940s. [15] Between 1985 and 2003, only two Western Australian towns decreased the distance that Netball players had to travel in order to compete; these towns were Brookton and Pingelly. [16] Prior to the creation of the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship in 2013, the National Netball League was the major competition in Australia. [17] It included teams from the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. [17] After the 2016 ANZ Championship season, Netball Australia pulled out of that competition and established Suncorp Super Netball as the country's new top league. [18]
The Netball demographic profile is a 18 to 24 year old, unmarried, Australian-born, female who is employed full-time. [2] The average Netball player in New South Wales has played the game for 10.8 years. [19] Most New South Wales based school-aged Netball players play at school and with friends. [19] Girls from non-English speaking backgrounds were more likely to play for fun than their English speaking counterparts, who often played for their school or parents. [20] Non-English speaking girls were less likely to have mothers who played netball, 18.2%, compared to 35.2% for their English speaking counterparts. [20] Most New South Wales based adult players played netball for fun, and for the physical benefits of the sport. [20]
The country has hosted several major important international netball events including:
The Australian national netball team is regarded as the most successful netball team in international netball. It won the first world championships in 1963 in England, [14] and nine of the twelve Netball World Championships. In addition to being the current world champions, the Australian Diamonds are ranked first on the INF World Rankings. [24]
Australia beat the Silver Ferns to win the World Youth Netball Championships in July 2009 in the Cook Islands. [25] Australia also has a men's national team. It has competed in the 2009 and 2011 International Challenge Men's and Mixed Netball Tournament. [23]
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Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own goal ring. It is one of a few sports created exclusively for women and girls and remains primarily played by them, on indoor and outdoor courts, especially in schools and most popularly in the Commonwealth of Nations.
World Netball, previously known as the International Netball Federation and the International Federation of Netball Associations, is the worldwide governing body for Netball. The INF was created in 1960 and is responsible for world rankings, maintaining the rules for netball and organising the Netball World Cup and Netball at the Commonwealth Games
The Netball World Cup is a quadrennial international netball world championship organised by World Netball, inaugurated in 1963. Since its inception the competition has been dominated primarily by the Australia national netball team and the New Zealand national netball team, Trinidad and Tobago is the only other team to have won a title. The most recent tournament was the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa, which was won by Australia.
Netball New Zealand is the national body which oversees, promotes and manages netball in New Zealand, including the Silver Ferns.
Netball is the most popular women's sport in New Zealand, in terms of player participation and public interest. With the national team, the Silver Ferns, currently ranked second in the world, netball maintains a high profile in New Zealand. As in other netball-playing countries, netball is considered primarily a women's sport; men's and mixed teams exist at different levels, but are ancillary to women's competition.
The history of netball can be traced to the early development of basketball. A year after basketball was invented in 1891, the sport was modified for women to accommodate social conventions regarding their participation in sport, giving rise to women's basketball. Variations of women's basketball arose across the United States and in England. At the Bergman Österberg physical training college in Dartford, England, the rules of women's basketball were modified over several years to form an entirely new sport: "net ball". The sport was invented to encourage young females to be physically active and energetic. The first codified rules of netball were published at the start of the twentieth century, and from there the new sport spread throughout the British Empire.
The Fast5 Netball World Series is an annual international Fast5 netball competition that was contested for the first time in October 2009. The new competition features modified Fast5 rules, and has been likened to Twenty20 cricket and rugby sevens. The competition is contested by the six top national netball teams in the world, according to the INF World Rankings.
The Sri Lanka national netball team is the national netball team of Sri Lanka. The team is coached by Hyacinth Wijesinghe and captained by Gayanjali Amarawansa. As of 01 March 2023, Sri Lanka are ranked 15th in the world.
The Cook Islands compete as a part of netball's Oceania region. More than 1,000 players have registered to play the sport. Participation in the game grew during the 1970s. Much of this is possible because of the national governing organisation, the Cook Islands Netball Association which is a member of Oceania Netball Federation. Because of the level of organisation and the game's development, the country has participated at several international events including the Pacific Games, the Commonwealth Games, the World Games, the Oceania Netball Tournament, the World Youth Netball Championship, and the International Challenge Men's and Mixed Netball Tournament. A demonstration of the Cook Islands success can be found by looking at the national team: It is one of the top ranked in the world.
Netball is promoted in Malaysia at the Sport Carnival for All (KESUMA). In 1998, 113 districts held netball competitions. That year, there were 1,718 registered netball teams in the country. In 2001, netball was sufficiently popular in South East Asia for it to be included in the 21st Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia had a national team compete in the fifth Asian Netball Championships in Colombo in 2001. Malaysia also competed in the 7th Asian Youth Netball Championship in India in 2010. Petronas, the national oil company, has been a major sponsor of netball in the country. This type of sponsorship was encouraged by the government as part of the Rakan Sukan programme.
Netball is one of the most popular women's participation sports in South Africa. The sport is also played by a large number of men. It exists in a culture where sport plays an important public and social part of life. The history of South Africa's netball involvement mirrors that of other sports played in the country like rugby union. During the apartheid era, there were many netball facilities available for whites to use, and fewer for people from other race groups. Funding issues and gender issues did not help bridge this gap.
Netball in Botswana is primarily played by women. Girls are introduced to netball at primary schools, as part of the school curriculum.
Previously known as the World Youth Netball Championships, the Netball World Youth Cup is the world championship of netball for national U21 teams, with all players being aged 21 years or younger. As part of the Australian Bicentenary celebrations in 1988, a new international tournament for youth took place in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. Its success led to this event being held once every four years. The most recent tournament was held in Gaborone in 2017, with New Zealand taking the title.
Netball has never been played at the Summer Olympics, but its federation has been recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), since 1995 after a twenty-year period of lobbying. The netball community sees netball's absence at the Olympic Games as a hindrance to the global growth of the game, depriving it of media attention and funding. The IOC requires a high geographical scope for inclusion in the Olympics, but netball is mostly played in Commonwealth countries. When the IOC recognized netball's federation, it opened up sources of funds that the global netball community had not been able to access before, including the (IOC), national Olympic committees and sports organisations, and state and federal governments.
World Netball's Americas region includes North America, South America, Central America and the Caribbean. The region covers 54 nations, of which 15 have national governing bodies as of 2021. Each year, the region hosts two tournaments: the CNA U16 Championship and the AFNA Senior Championship. World Netball was formerly called the "International Netball Federation" or INF.
Netball is a popular women's sport in parts of Africa. Several African nations are ranked amongst the top thirty in the world. As of August 2016, South Africa was ranked number Five, Malawi was ranked number Six, Uganda was ranked Seven, Zambia was ranked Sixteenth, Botswana was ranked twentieth, Zimbabwe was ranked Twenty-first and Swaziland was ranked Thirtieth in the world.
Netball is popular in several parts of Asia. The IFNA Asia region includes countries such as Australia, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka. The major regional competition is the Asian Netball Championship. In 1994, the first Asian Youth Championship was held in Hong Kong.
Netball in Oceania is generally regarded as a woman's sport. Women's sports in Oceania have traditionally had a very low profile. Despite this, netball is popular in Oceania, with its growth partly because of New Zealand encouraging the game and providing money for the training of coaches, umpires and other netball development needs. In New Zealand and in neighbouring Australia, netball is one of the most popular sports played by women.
Netball is a popular participant sport in some parts of the world, particularly in countries of the Commonwealth of Nations. According to the IFNA, over 20 million people play netball in more than 72 countries. IFNA member nations are divided into five regional groups: Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania.
Netball in Wales is organised by the Welsh Netball Association. Copies of the rule book were sold in Wales by 1903. Marion Morton was involved with early organising of the game in Wales. Between 1949 and 1976, the Wales national team lost to England on twenty-eight occasions.
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