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.
The New Zealand national netball team, commonly known as the Silver Ferns, represent Netball New Zealand in international netball tournaments such as the Netball World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the Taini Jamison Trophy, the Constellation Cup, the Netball Quad Series and the Fast5 Netball World Series. They have also represented New Zealand at the World Games. New Zealand made their test debut in 1938. As of 2023, New Zealand have been world champions on five occasions and Commonwealth champions twice. They are regularly ranked number two in the World Netball Rankings.
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.
The 2007 World Netball Championships was the 12th edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball co-ordinated by the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA). Sixteen nations contested the title from 10 to the 17 November. It was held in the West Auckland, New Zealand. Forty-eight matches over 8 days were played in The Trusts Stadium, Waitakere. The event was broadcast to over half a dozen countries
The 2011 World Netball Championships was the 13th edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball. It was held in Singapore from 3–10 July. All 48 matches were played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Singapore was chosen as the host nation at the 2007 IFNA Congress in Auckland.
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 Madame Österberg Physical Training College 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. The competition, which began in October 2009, 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 2009 World Netball Series was the inaugural tournament of the World Netball Series. The 2009 Series was held at MEN Arena in Manchester, England from 9–11 October, and was the first major trial of the new FastNet rules that were announced by the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) in 2008. New Zealand won the 2009 tournament with a 32–27 victory over Jamaica in the gold medal playoff.
The 2010 World Netball Series was the second edition of the World Netball Series, an annual international netball competition held under fastnet rules. The 2010 event was held in Liverpool, England, and was contested between the top six national netball teams according to the IFNA World Rankings. After two days of round-robin matches, Jamaica and England finished on top of the standings. However, the 2010 tournament was won by New Zealand, who defeated Jamaica in the semi-final and England in the grand final.
Kayla Malvina Johnson is a New Zealand netball player. As a high school student, Cullen played representative netball and basketball, and competed at a national level in athletics. In 2008, she was selected in the New Zealand U21 netball team, and was a member of the side that finished second at the 2009 World Youth Netball Championships, behind Australia.
On the club, national and international level, men's netball teams exist, but attract less attention than women's netball. Mixed teams are not uncommon in Australia and are very popular. Men's national teams do exist in Antigua & Barbuda, Australia, Brunei, Canada, England, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, the Isle of Man, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Grenada, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, South Africa, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates, United States, and Zambia.
The Netball World Cup Sydney 2015 (NWC2015) was the 14th edition of the INF Netball World Cup, the premier competition in international netball. It was held from 7–16 August, in Sydney, Australia, which secured hosting rights after defeating a rival bid from Manchester, England. Matches were played at Allphones Arena and Netball Central. Sixteen nations competed at the championships, including the top six teams from the 2011 World Netball Championships in Singapore. After two rounds in which teams competed in pools of four, Australia, New Zealand, England and Jamaica contested the semi-finals. Australia defended its 2011 title against New Zealand by a narrow 58–55 victory. The final at Allphones Arena was attended by 16,752 people, a world record for any netball game. Malawian shooter Mwai Kumwenda was the player of distinction.
The 2012 Fast5 Netball World Series was the fourth staging of the annual World Netball Series, and the first to be played under the new Fast5 rules, which replaced the older fastnet rules introduced in 2009. The tournament was held at Vector Arena in Auckland, the first time it had moved from its previous host nation England.
The 2013 Fast5 Netball World Series was the fifth staging of the annual Netball World Series, and the second to be played under the new Fast5 rules, which replaced the older fastnet rules introduced in 2009. The tournament was held at Vector Arena in Auckland for the second year in a row.
The 2019 Netball World Cup was the 15th edition of the INF Netball World Cup. It was held from 12–21 July 2019 at the Liverpool Arena in Liverpool, England with matches being held on two courts. Host nation England finished their campaign with a bronze medal. New Zealand became 5th time champions after beating Australia in the final and gold medal match.
Ameliaranne Ekenasio, previously known as Ameliaranne Wells, is a New Zealand netball international. In 2010 and 2011, Wells represented Australia at under-19 and under-21 levels. In 2014 she switched allegiances to New Zealand. She represented New Zealand at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and was a prominent member of the New Zealand team that won the 2019 Netball World Cup. She captained New Zealand when they won the 2021 Constellation Cup.
The Taini Jamison Trophy series is an international netball series hosted by Netball New Zealand. The series traditionally features New Zealand playing a series of test matches against a visiting national team. The trophy is named in honour of Taini Jamison, the former New Zealand head coach. New Zealand won the inaugural 2008 series. A World 7, Jamaica and England have also been series winners. Other participants have included South Africa, Malawi, Fiji and Samoa. As New Zealand and Australia compete for the Constellation Cup, Australia does not compete for the Taini Jamison Trophy.
The 2023 Netball World Cup was the sixteenth staging of the Netball World Cup, the premier competition in international netball, contested every four years. The tournament was held from 28 July to 6 August at the International Convention Centre in Cape Town, South Africa, its first time in Africa.
The 2022 Fast5 Netball World Series was the tenth staging of the Fast5 Netball World Series, and the seventh to be played under the Fast5 rules, which replaced the older fastnet rules introduced in 2009. The tournament was held in New Zealand for the fourth time. The host city Christchurch was awarded hosting rights for the 2022 and 2023 tournaments, with matches played at the Christchurch Arena.
England 
New Zealand 
