Netball is a ball sport played by two teams of seven players, usually on an indoor court, and is predominantly played by women. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for the female sex, although efforts to expand the game to mixed and men's teams now exist. Originating in England, UK, in the late 19th century, the sport is played specifically in schools and is most popularly played in Commonwealth nations. The sport also uses outdoor netball courts. The sport, originally described as 'women's basketball', but distinct from the related sport of basketball as played by women, is distinguished from its 'sister' sport by the bar on dribbling, bouncing or running in possession of the ball, and the rules defining positions which detail in which court areas specific players can compete. Netball, therefore, is even more focussed on accurate passing and positioning than its sister sport, and physical player contact more controlled.
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.
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.
Maldives had a national team compete in the fifth Asian Netball Championship held in Colombo in 2001.
Pakistan had a national team compete in the fifth Asian Netball Championship held in Colombo in 2001.
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.
Thailand had a national team compete in the fifth Asian Netball Championship held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2001.
Netball in Botswana is primarily played by women. Girls are introduced to netball at primary schools, as part of the school curriculum.
Netball in Namibia is a popular sport, played at the national level.
Malaysian Netball Association is the national body which oversees, promotes and manages netball in Malaysia. Established in 1978, the Malaysian Netball Association hosted the first Asian Netball Championship in 1985, and the 3rd Asian Youth Netball Championship.
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 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 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.
