Netball is popular in several parts of Asia. [1] [2] [3] [4] The IFNA Asia region includes countries such as Australia (geopolitically considered part of Oceania), India, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka. [5] The major regional competition is the Asian Netball Championship. [1] [2] [3] [4] In 1994, the first Asian Youth Championship was held in Hong Kong. [6]
Netball has the highest participation rate of any team sport—male or female—in Australia; [7] [8] [9] [10] however, it has not managed to become a large spectator sport. [11] In 2005 and 2006, netball was the 10th most popular spectator sport for women after tennis. [12] 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 SuperDome game in 2004. [13]
Netball was brought to Australia by English school teachers, with a team having been organised by 1904 at Parramatta Superior Schools. [7] In 1927, a national federation for the sport, Australian Women's Basketball Association, was created. [7] During the 1930s in Australia, much of the participation in netball at universities was not organised and players were not required to register. [14] It was believed that this was a positive for netball as it allowed people to participate who might not have participated otherwise. [14] Australia's national team toured England in 1957. This tour resulted in a number of Commonwealth countries meeting together in order to try to standardise the rules of the game. [15] The sport's name "netball" became official in Australia in 1970. [16] [17] Netball was one of the eight foundation sports when the Australian Institute of Sport was created. [7] The national federation changed their name to Netball Australia in 1995. [7] The Government of New South Wales committed over A$5,000,000 to creating and improving sporting facilities in the state. Some of this funding went to improving netball facilities. [7]
In Australia 80% of netball is played at netball clubs. [10] The number of netball clubs around Australia has been in decline since the 1940s. [18] Still, there are around 350,000 registered players and over 1.2 million total players in the country. [19] Prior to the creation of the ANZ Championship, the National Netball League was the major competition in Australia. [20] It included teams from the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. [20]
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, [17] and nine of the twelve Netball World Championships to date. In addition to being the current world champion, it is ranked first on the INF World Rankings. [21] Australia beat the Silver Ferns to win the World Youth Netball Championships in July 2009 in the Cook Islands. [22] 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]
Women started playing netball in India as early as 1926. [24] The Sports Authority of India and the Government of India have provided much funding with the goal of improving the performance of the country's youth national team. [24] India had a national team compete in the fifth Asian Netball Championship in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2001. [1] National team captains include Prachi Tehlan, who captained the side that competed in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. [24] Some of the important netball competitions held in India include the 2010 Commonwealth Games, [15] and the 7th Asian Youth Netball Championship, held from 3 to 10 July 2010, at the Thyagaraj Stadium. [24] Some of the top performances for the India national netball team include coming in sixth place at the 2010 Nations Cup [25] and coming in fourth at the 2010 Asian Youth Netball Championship. [6]
Netball is the most popular women's sport in Malaysia. [26] The national organisation, Malaysian Netball Association, was created in 1978. [26] The sport is part of the national curriculum beginning at year 3. [26] Netball is promoted at the Sport Carnival for All (KESUMA). [27] In 1998, 113 districts held netball competitions. [27] That year, there were 1,718 registered netball teams in the country. [27] In 2001, netball was sufficiently popular in South East Asia for it to be included in the 21st Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur. [6] Malaysia had a national team compete in the fifth Asian Netball Championship in Colombo in 2001. [1] Malaysia also competed in the 7th Asian Youth Netball Championship in India in 2010. [24] 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. [28] As of August 2016, the women's national team was ranked number nineteenth in the world. Following the appointment of a new coach, Tracey Robinson, they won the Asian Championships in 2016 and followed that up with South East Asian Games gold medal win in 2017. [29]
Netball Singapore is the official governing body for the sport in Singapore. [30] It was created in 1962, with 63 registered clubs. [30] There are 80,000 netball players in Singapore. [30] There are several variations of netball played in the country, including beach netball. [30] In Singapore, the SSC is responsible for maintaining 8 netball courts. [31] Singapore has several national squads: Opens, 21 & Under, 19 & Under (Post School), 19 & Under (Schools), 17 & Under, and 14 & Under. [32] The national team competed in its first major tournament in 1967 at the Netball World Championships. [6] Singapore had a national team compete in the fifth Asian Netball Championship held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2001. [1] Singapore competed in the 7th Asian Youth Netball Championship held in 2010 in India. [24] In 2000, netball was sufficiently popular that the professional Netball Super League (NSL) was formed. [6] The Netball Super League is a seven-week-long netball tournament developed to cater for elite players in Singapore. [33] It was established and is governed by Netball Singapore and six teams compete. [6] In 2004, the audience was big enough that the Netball Super League was broadcast on television. [6] The Stingrays came in second in 2008 and first in the 2009 competition. [34] The 2010 competition was won by the Malaysian Arowanas. [35] As of August 2016, the women's national team was ranked number seventeenth in the world. [29]
Netball was first played in Sri Lanka in 1921. [36] The first game was played by Ceylon Girl Guide Company at Kandy High School. [36] The first interschool march was played between Kandy High School and Colombo Ladies College in February 1925. [36] In 1927, netball was played at Government Training College for the first time. This helped spread the game around Sri Lanka. [36] The game was being played at Methodist College Colombo and Bishop's College by the 1930s. [36] By 1952, Sri Lankan clubs were playing Indian club sides. [36] By 1952, Sri Lankan clubs were playing Indian club sides. [36] In 1956, Sri Lanka played its first international match against Australia's national team in Sri Lanka. [36] Sri Lanka took part in the 1960 netball meeting of Commonwealth countries to try to standardise the rules for the game. [15] This meeting took place in Sri Lanka. [15] In 1972, the Netball Federation of Sri Lanka was created. [36] In 1983, Netball Federation of Sri Lanka was dissolved by the government. [36] Sri Lanka had a national team compete in the fifth Asian Netball Championship held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2001. [1] Sri Lanka competed in the 7th Asian Youth Netball Championship held in 2010 in India. [24] As of August 2016, the women's national team was ranked number twenty-seven in the world. [29]
Netball is a ball sport played by two teams of seven players. Netball is most popular in many Commonwealth nations and according to the sport's international governing body, World Netball, it is played by more than 20 million people in more than 80 countries. Major domestic leagues in the sport include the Netball Superleague in Great Britain, Suncorp Super Netball in Australia and the ANZ Premiership in New Zealand. Four major competitions take place internationally: the quadrennial World Netball Championships, the Commonwealth Games, and the yearly Quad Series and Fast5 Series. In 1995, netball became an International Olympic Committee recognised sport, but it has not been played at the Olympics.
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 the 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.
The Sri Lanka national football team represents Sri Lanka in Association football and is administered by Football Sri Lanka, the governing body of football in Sri Lanka. They have been a member of FIFA since 1952 and a member of AFC since 1954. Sri Lanka's home stadium is the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo. The Sri Lankan team was known as the Ceylon national football team until 1972 when Ceylon was renamed Sri Lanka.
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.
The Sri Lanka national netball team is the national netball team of Sri Lanka. The team is coached by Thilaka Jinadasa and captained by Chathurangi Jayasooriya. As of 21 July 2019, Sri Lanka are ranked 18th in the world.
Sport in Sri Lanka is a significant part of Sri Lankan culture. Although the Sports Ministry named volleyball the national sport, the most popular sport is Cricket. Rugby union is also popular. Other popular sports are water sports, badminton, athletics, football, basketball and tennis. Sri Lanka's schools and colleges regularly organize sports and athletics teams, competing on provincial and national levels.
The Hong Kong national netball team represents Hong Kong in international netball tournaments. They compete in the biannual Asian Netball Championship. They are currently ranked 33rd in the world.
Women started playing netball in India as early as 1926. The Sports Authority of India and the Government of India have provided much funding with the goal of improving the performance of the country's youth national team. Netball Federation of INDIA was established in 1978 by Ch Jagat Singh ChOuhan hailing from Haryana who was an alumnus of YMCA College of Physical Education of Madras and at the same year he organised the first national championships in Jind, Haryana with great contribution of Mrs Shashi Prabha. Mr Jagat Singh Chouhan was founder/father of Handball, Netball and Throwball games in India. His efforts in Germany during Munich Olympics (1972) helped in making these a legacy in India. India had a national team compete in the fifth Asian Netball Championships in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2001. National team captains include Prachi Tehlan, who captained the side that competed in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
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.
There are 80,000 netball players in Singapore. playing several variations of netball, including beach netball. Sport Singapore is responsible for maintaining 8 netball courts. Netball Singapore is the official governing body for the sport in Singapore. It was created in 1962, with 63 registered clubs.
Netball was first played in Sri Lanka in 1921. The first game was played by Ceylon Girl Guide Company at Kandy High School. The first interschool march was played between Kandy High School and C.M.S. Ladies' College, Colombo in February 1925. In 1927, netball was played at Government Training College for the first time. This helped spread the game around Sri Lanka. The game was being played at Methodist College Colombo and Bishop's College by the 1930s. By 1952, Sri Lankan clubs were playing Indian club sides. In 1956, Sri Lanka played its first international match against Australia's national team in Sri Lanka. In 1972, the Netball Federation of Sri Lanka was created. In 1983, Netball Federation of Sri Lanka was dissolved by the government.
Thailand had a national team compete in the fifth Asian Netball Championship held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2001.
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 Namibia is a popular sport, played at the national level.
Netball was one of the most popular sports in Tanzania. The sport was introduced to the country after the World War I, when the country was under British colonial rule. The sport was intended for leisure and first played in schools. For this reason, almost all primary schools in the country have a court. Recruitment for the national team and other high level teams started at that level. Netball Association of Tanzania (CHANETA) was created in 1966. Women have historically dominated in leadership positions in CHANETA but men are still involved, especially in roles like coaching. During the 1970s and 1980s, there was a push by the International Olympic Committee and the British Council to promote sport and women's sport in Tanzania. Despite netball being the most popular women's sport at the time, no investment was made into the sport.
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 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.
The Namibia national netball team is the national netball team of Namibia. As of 2 December 2019, Namibia were 30th in the INF World Rankings. Namibia competed in the annual Confederation of Southern African Netball Associations (COSANA) tournament in 2008. The 2010 Nations Cup, called NTUC FairPrice Foundation Nations Cup 2010, was held in December. Namibia beat India 72–32 to capture fifth. The current team members are below.