Netball in Oceania

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Netball sculpture in Southland, New Zealand. Netball sculpture, Invercargill Airport, Southland, New Zealand, 22 July 2005.jpg
Netball sculpture in Southland, New Zealand.

Netball in Oceania is generally regarded as a woman's sport. Women's sports in Oceania have traditionally had a very low profile. [1] Despite this, netball is popular in Oceania, with its growth partly because of New Zealand encouraging the game and providing money for the training of coaches, umpires and other netball development needs. [2] In New Zealand and in neighbouring Australia, [3] netball is one of the most popular sports played by women. [4] [5] [6]

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Netball is one of the sports at the Pacific Games, a multi-sport event, with participation from countries around the South Pacific, that is held every four years. [7] The popularity of netball is growing amongst men on the island countries in Oceania, because sport is an important way for villages to keep in touch with each other. [7] The game's popularity can also be seen in local languages, where words have been created to describe it. In Niue, the words include neteplo, pelê neteplo, pelê. [8] The Oceania Netball Federation (ONF) is the governing body for netball in the Oceania region. [9]

New Zealand

In New Zealand, netball is the most popular women's participation sport. In 1984, there were 114,210 players. [10] There are over 11,000 teams and 120,440 players. [11] The only sport that comes close is golf, which has 128,860 male and female players. [11] Ninety-eight percent of New Zealand netball players are female. [12] The sports with the next highest rates of female participation are field hockey and horse racing, both at sixty-four percent. [13] Netball is extremely popular amongst Māori women, who are more active in sport in general than their white counterparts. [14] New Zealand took part in the 1960 netball meeting of Commonwealth countries to try to standardise the rules for the game. [15] New Zealand has a history of netball being a spectator sport with the games being televised on TVNZ. [11] The 1999 Netball World Championships final between Australia and New Zealand was the highest rated program ever on New Zealand television. [11] New Zealand also has a men's national team that has competed in the 2009 and 2011 International Challenge Men's and Mixed Netball Tournaments. [16] As of August 2016, the women's national team was ranked number two in the world. [9]

Cook Islands

The Cook Islands are a major netball playing country in Oceania, [17] with over 1,000 registered members. [18] The game became popular during the 1970s, [2] and the team has been an important in the region since then. [19] The country has participated at several international events including the Pacific Games, [19] the Commonwealth Games, [20] the Netball World Championships, [20] the World Games, [19] the Oceania Netball Tournament, [19] the World Youth Netball Championship, [17] and the International Challenge Men's and Mixed Netball Tournament. [16] Netball has much grass roots support and is an important part of life for many women on the islands. [21] [22] Netball started to grow in popularity during the 1970s. [2] The sport's popularity is partly due to the influence of New Zealand, where Cook Island players have competed for New Zealand's national team. New Zealand worked hard to develop the sport in the country during the 1980s, when they hosted a number of coaching and umpiring clinics. [2] Participation in the international netball community has helped raise the Cook Islands profile globally. [23] [24] The Cook Islands won the netball competition at the first South Pacific Games (now Pacific Games), held in 1981. [19] In the 1987 Netball World Championships held in Scotland the Cook Islands team came in sixth. [19] At the World Games 1989 in Germany, the team came fourth. [19] In the 1990 Oceania Netball Tournament, the team beat New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji to come in second, behind Australia. [19] At the 1992 World Youth Cup in Samoa, the Cook Islands U-21 team beat several high-profile international teams including Wales, Samoa, and England. [23] The Cook Islands defeat of Canada, 114–13, in that tournament was a record for the highest number of points scored in the tournament. [23] The Cook Islands has a national team that competes in the international Golden Oldies netball tournament. [25] In 2004, a team from the Cook Islands competed in the International Schoolgirls Netball Challenge. [26] The country hosted the 2008 World Youth Championship [27] and the 2009 International Challenge Men's and Mixed Netball Tournament. [16] As of August 2016, the women's national team was ranked number twenty-three in the world. [28]

Fiji

A netball competition at Natalei, Fiji. Natalei netball.jpg
A netball competition at Natalei, Fiji.

Women's participation in netball in Fiji is comparable to men's participation in rugby. [29] The sport started to grow in popularity during the 1970s. [2] Netball has a large amount of grassroots support in Fiji. Games are most often played by girls on Saturdays during the winter, though games can be played at all times of the year. [7] Samoa and Fiji are traditional netball rivals. This rivalry can be seen at events like Pacific Games. [7] Fiji was supposed to host the 2007 World Netball Championship, but a military coup occurred. IFNA decided to move the championship to Auckland instead. [29] Fiji has a men's national team that has competed in the 2009 and 2011 International Challenge Men's and Mixed Netball Tournament. [16] As of August 2016, the women's national team was ranked number seven in the world. [28]

Samoa

Netball has a large amount of grassroots support in Samoa. Games are most often played by girls on Saturdays during the winter, though games can be played at all times of the year. [7] The sport started to grow in popularity during the 1970s. [2] Rita Fatialofa was a Samoan netball player, who later went on to compete on New Zealand's national team. She became the coach for the Samoan national team, qualifying them for every Pacific Games. [30] Samoa and Fiji are traditional netball rivals. This rivalry can be seen at events like Pacific Games. [7] Samoa has a men's national team that has competed in the 2009 and 2011 International Challenge Men's and Mixed Netball Tournament. [16] At Gay Games VI held in 2000, a transgender netball team from Samoa competed. [31] As of August 2016, the women's national team was ranked number fourteen in the world. [28]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Games</span> Pacific archipelagic multi-sport event

The Pacific Games, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from Oceania. The inaugural Games took place in 1963 in Suva, Fiji, and most recently in 2019 in Apia, Samoa. The Games were called the South Pacific Games from 1963 to 2007. The Pacific Games Council (PGC) organises the Games and oversees the host city's preparations. Athletes with a disability are included as full members of their national teams. In each sporting event, gold medals are awarded for first place, silver medals are awarded for second place, and bronze medals are awarded for third place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Netball in Australia</span> Overview of the ball sport in Australia

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.

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The Oceania Rugby Men's Championship is an international rugby union competition for countries and territories from Oceania with national teams in the developmental band. It is administered by Oceania Rugby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sport in Oceania</span>

Sport in Oceania varies from country to country. The most popular playing sport for men in Australia is Australian rules football, while for women is netball. Australian rules football is the most popular sport in terms of spectatorship and television ratings. Rugby union is the most popular sport among New Zealanders, while in Papua New Guinea rugby league is the most popular.

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The Oceania Rugby Women's Sevens Championship is the regional championship for women's international rugby sevens in Oceania. The tournament is held over two days, typically on a weekend. It is sanctioned and sponsored by Oceania Rugby, which is the rugby union governing body for the region.

The Oceania Netball Federation is the regional body within the International Federation of Netball Associations that governs netball across Oceania. The current president is Wainikiti Bogidrau from Fiji. There are currently twenty four countries within the Oceania region. There are seven full members with New Zealand the only one with elite status. Realistically only thirteen nations, predominantly Commonwealth nations, play the game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Netball in the Cook Islands</span> Overview of the ball sport in the nation

The Cook Islands compete as a part of netball's Oceania region. More than 1,000 players have registered to play the sport. Participation in the game grew during the 1970s. Much of this is possible because of the national governing organisation, the Cook Islands Netball Association which is a member of Oceania Netball Federation. Because of the level of organisation and the game's development, the country has participated at several international events including the Pacific Games, the Commonwealth Games, the World Games, the Oceania Netball Tournament, the World Youth Netball Championship, and the International Challenge Men's and Mixed Netball Tournament. A demonstration of the Cook Islands success can be found by looking at the national team: It is one of the top ranked in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Netball in Fiji</span> Overview of the ball sport in Fiji

Netball in Fiji is a popular sport, with a men's and a women's national team. Netball games are most often played by girls on Saturdays during the winter, though games can be played at all times of the year. Women's participation in netball is comparable to men's participation in rugby.

Netball in Niue is a popular local sport. Games are most often played by girls on Saturdays between June and August, though games can be played at all times of the year. Most of the netball is played on high school athletic grounds.

Netball in Samoa is a popular game, usually played by girls on Saturdays during the winter, though games can be played at all times of the year. The sport started to grow in popularity during the 1970s. The popularity of netball is also growing amongst men on the island.

Netball in Tonga is a popular sport, usually played by girls on Saturdays during the winter, though games can be played at all times of the year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cook Islands Netball Association</span>

Cook Islands Netball Association is the national body which oversees, promotes and manages netball in Cook Islands. The Cook Islands Netball Association is a member of Oceania Netball Federation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of netball</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Men's netball</span>

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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">1983 South Pacific Games</span> 7th edition of the South Pacific Games

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Netball at the Pacific Games has been an optional Pacific Games sport since 1963. Fiji have been the tournament's most successful team, winning seven gold medals. Cook Islands have won four gold medals. To date, only the Cook Islands and Fiji have won netball gold at the Pacific Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cricket in Oceania</span>

The popularity of cricket in Oceania varies from place to place – in some countries, it is the national sport, while in others it is not played at all. A number of Oceanian countries are members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), and participate in tournaments organised by the ICC East Asia-Pacific (EAP) development program. The other major regional competition is the cricket tournament at the Pacific Games, which is open to ICC non-members.

References

  1. ↑ Brawley 1997 , p. 119
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lal & Fortune 2000 , p. 458
  3. ↑ Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2008
  4. ↑ Davis & Davis 2006 , p. 5
  5. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006
  6. ↑ Phillips 2011
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 McKinnon 2009 , p. 51
  8. ↑ Sperlich 1997 , p. 488
  9. 1 2 International Federation of Netball Associations 2011
  10. ↑ Van Bottenburg 2001 , p. 214
  11. 1 2 3 4 Thompson 2002 , p. 258
  12. ↑ Van Bottenburg 2001 , p. 169
  13. ↑ Van Bottenburg 2001 , p. 170
  14. ↑ Thompson 2002 , p. 257
  15. ↑ International Federation of Netball Associations 2008
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 Samoa Observer 2011
  17. 1 2 Netball Singapore 2011b
  18. ↑ Cook Islands Netball Association 2009
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Crocombe 1990 , p. 13
  20. 1 2 Crocombe 1990 , p. 54
  21. ↑ Alexeyeff 2009 , p. 145
  22. ↑ Alexeyeff 2009 , p. 85
  23. 1 2 3 Sissions 1999 , p. 128
  24. ↑ Pacific Islands Political Studies Association 1994 , p. 280
  25. ↑ Crocombe 2007 , p. 427
  26. ↑ School Sport Australia 2011
  27. ↑ Jonassen & Tikivanotau 2008 , p. 148
  28. 1 2 3 International Netball Federation. "Current World Rankings". Last updated 20 August 2016.
  29. 1 2 Starnes & Luckham 2009 , p. 42
  30. ↑ Lal & Fortune 2000 , p. 462
  31. ↑ Symons & Hemphill 2006 , p. 122

Bibliography

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