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
Norma Margaret Plummer AM is a former Australian national player who also served as netball coach for both Australia and South Africa. She was coach of Australia from 2003 to 2011, ending her coaching career with the Diamonds on 67 victories from 89 Tests — a success rate of 75 per cent. She was replaced as coach of Australia by Lisa Alexander. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for her services to the sport. In November 2022 it was announced she would be returning to South Africa to coach the South Africa national netball side the Spar Proteas starting in 2022. The announcement came ahead of the 2023 Netball World Cup that is currently held in South Africa.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) is the governing body for both professional and amateur cricket in South Africa. In 1991, the separate South African Cricket Union and the South African Cricket Board merged to form the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCB), ending enforced racial separation governance in South African cricket. Cricket South Africa was formed in 2002, and initially ran parallel to the UCB, before becoming the sole governing body in 2008. As an affiliate of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), and a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), CSA administers all levels of cricket in South Africa, including the national teams in all three formats for both men and women.
Netball New Zealand is the national body which oversees, promotes and manages netball in New Zealand, including the Silver Ferns.
The South Africa national netball team, known as the SPAR Proteas for sponsorship reasons, represents South Africa in women's international netball. The Proteas are currently coached by Australian coach Norma Plummer who returned to the role for a second time in November 2022 and are captained by Bongiwe Msomi. The team are governed by Netball South Africa and sponsored by SPAR. South Africa are currently fifth in the INF World Rankings.
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.
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 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.
Maryka Holtzhausen is a former South African netball player. She played in the positions of GA and WA. She was a member of the South Africa national netball team, and competed in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and the 2011 World Netball Championships in Singapore. She also participated in the 2010 World Netball Series and the 2011 World Netball Series, both held in Liverpool, UK. She played in the 2012 Quad Series, and in the same year, she won a bronze medal in 2012 Fast5 Netball World Series with the Fast5 Proteas.
Karla Pretorius is a South African netball player, currently playing for the Sunshine Coast Lightning and the South Africa SPAR Proteas Netball. She plays in the positions of Goal Defence (GD) and Wing Defence (WD).
Bongiwe Msomi is a South African former netball player. She played in the positions of Centre and Wing Attack.
The Netball League of South Africa is the leading semi-professional netball league in South Africa.
Lenize Potgieter is a South African professional netball player who currently plays for Manchester Thunder and the South African national team.
The Netball South Africa Challenge is an international netball tournament held close to biannually in South Africa and organised by the country's governing body for the sport, Netball South Africa. The challenge is contested by the South African national team and up to five other African nations. The inaugural tournament was held in 2012 and it has been contested in most subsequent years.
The 2021 SPAR Challenge is the sixth edition of the netball Challenge Tournament organised by Netball South Africa. The series is being contested by three South African teams, the Ugandan national team, and the Namibian national team. The tournament was originally scheduled to occur in January 2021, though was postponed to March due to a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in South Africa. The tournament is sponsored by SPAR, is broadcast by SuperSport and will be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
Lefébre Rademan is a South African netball player, who has represented the national team. At club level, she plays for Severn Stars in the British Netball Superleague (NSL), and has previously played for Celtic Dragons and London Pulse in the NSL, as well as Free State Crinums in the South African Netball League.
Jeante Strydom is a South African netball player who plays for South Africa in the positions of goal defence and wing defence.
Nichole Taljaard is a South African netball player who plays for South Africa in the positions of goal attack and goal shooter. She scored the final goal against New Zealand at the Cape Town International Convention Centre during the 2023 Netball World Cup.
