Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifically played in schools. Netball is most popularly played in Commonwealth nations.
Anna Catherine Stanley is a New Zealand netballer, who captained the national team, to win the 2003 Netball World Championships in Jamaica.
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, as of the 2019 event having both medaled in every one of the 15 championships – Trinidad and Tobago is the only other team to have won a title. The most recent tournament was the 2019 Netball World Cup in Liverpool, England, which was won by New Zealand.
Netball is the most popular women's team participation sport in Australia. In 1985, there were 347,000 players. In 1995, there were over 360,000 Australian netball players. 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. In 2005 and 2006, 56,100 Australians attended one to two netball matches. Of these, 41,600 were women. 46,200 attended three to five netball matches, with 34,400 of those spectators being women. 86,400 attended six or more netball matches, with 54,800 spectators being female. Overall, 188,800 people attended netball matches, with 130,800 being female. 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. 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.
Casey May Kopua is a retired New Zealand international netball player and former captain of the New Zealand national netball team, the Silver Ferns, and the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic.
Netball at the World Games was played on three occasions between 1985 and 1993. The International Netball Federation remains a member of the International World Games Association
Caitlin Bassett is a former Australian netballer, who played for Giants Netball and the Australia national netball team. Between 2017 and 2021 Bassett captained Australia in international netball tests.
Ellen Halpenny is a former New Zealand netball international. She was a member of the New Zealand team that were silver medalists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. During the ANZ Championship era, Halpenny played for Canterbury Tactix and Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic. She subsequently played for Scottish Sirens during the 2017 Netball Superleague season. During the ANZ Premiership era, she played for Northern Stars and Southern Steel.
Wales Netball, formally registered as the Wales Netball Association, is the national governing body for netball in Wales and was founded in 1945. Wales Netball is responsible for national championships, Wales national netball team selection, international matches, the training and development of players, coaches and umpires and for the Sport Wales National Centre Netball Academy, Cardiff.
Asia Netball, formerly the Asian Netball Federation, Asian Federation of Netball Associations (AFNA) and Netball Asia, is the governing body of netball in Asia. Netball Asia was founded in 1986 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, three years after representatives from five Asian netball countries – Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and India – met during the 1983 Netball World Championships in Singapore to discuss the creation of an Asian netball governing body. The current president of the AFNA is Anna Wong. The Asian Region covers a total of 49 countries. The Asian Region currently has 8 Associate Members and 10 Full Regional & INF Members.
Netball Federation of India (NFI) is the national governing body of Netball in India. NFI is a non-profit, government funded organisation affiliated with the International Netball Federation (INF), the Asian Federation of Netball Association (AFNA) and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and recognised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. NFI was established in 1978 to standardise rules and regulations and to promote and develop the growth of netball in India. NFI operates all the Indian national representative netball sides, including the India national netball team and youth sides as well. NFI is also responsible for organising and hosting netball tournaments within India and scheduling the home international fixtures. Vagish Pathak is the current president of the organisation.
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.
Netball is a ball sport for two teams of seven players; its rules are published in print and online by the International Netball Federation. Games are played on a rectangular court divided into thirds, with a raised goal at each short end. The objective of the game is for teams to score goals, by passing a ball and shooting it into the opposite team's goal ring. Players are assigned "positions" that define their role within the team and restrict their movement on court.
The Canadian national netball team is the national netball team of Canada. Canada has both men's and women's national teams. Netball Canada is Canada's national governing body for the sport. The national team was first formed in the latter half of the 20th century.
The Americas Federation of Netball Associations (AFNA), is the governing body for the organized sport of netball in the Americas. For netball's organizational purposes, the Americas Region, as agreed upon by World Netball, covers a total of fifty-four countries. The Americas Region currently has 1 Associate Member and 15 Full Regional & World Netball Members. The current president of the AFNA is Marva Bernard.
The Israel national netball team participates in International tournaments, representing the country of Israel. They are part of Netball Europe and are a full member of the International Netball Federation (INF). They are also associate members of FENA.
The Malta national netball team participates in International tournaments, representing the country of Malta. They are part of Netball Europe and are a full member of the International Netball Federation (INF). They are also associate members of FENA. Malta achieved an International Ranking position in 2012. As of 7 March 2018, they are currently ranked 37th in the INF World Rankings. The Netball Association of Malta is located is located in Sliema, Malta. The President is Ms. Sandra Farrugia, and the Secretary is Ms. Josianne Gatt. Helga Turban is the head coach of the U21 side.
The Switzerland national netball team represent Switzerland in international netball tests and competitions. As of 7 March 2018, they are ranked 36th in the world. Established in 2009, Swiss Netball is a full member of the International Netball Federation (INF) and Netball Europe. Swiss Netball has worked hard to develop the game at the junior club level, as well as at senior level, and the national squad first obtained a world ranking in 2012.
Kate Alexandra Heffernan is a New Zealand netballer and cricketer. In netball, she currently plays for Southern Steel in wing defence, centre and wing attack. In 2021, she received her maiden call up to the New Zealand national netball team, and made her debut for the side in 2022, at the Commonwealth Games. In cricket, she played as a left-arm medium bowler for Otago, as well as making two Twenty20 International appearances for New Zealand.
