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.
The World Netball Rankings are published by the World Netball to make it possible to compare the relative strengths of internationally active national netball teams. Initially, rankings were based on the results from the World Netball Championships, and released after the conclusion of each event, every four years. A new ranking system was implemented on 11 February 2008, wherein teams are ranked based on international tests played in the last four years. Teams appear on the rankings list once they have played eight international test matches.
Sports in Saint Lucia consist of a wide variety of games.
The Jamaica national netball team, commonly known as the Sunshine Girls, represent Jamaica in international netball competitions. Netball is the number one women's sport and the number one team sport in Jamaica, and the majority of the schools in Jamaica participate. Netball receives full media coverage on television, radio and in newspapers but does not get as much coverage as less successful team sports such as football and cricket. Jamaica were coached by former representative Oberon Pitterson and captained by midcourt veteran Nadine Bryan until the end of 2013. In early 2014, a Technical Director and new coach were appointed. As of 1 July 2020, Jamaica are fourth in the INF World Rankings. The senior Jamaican netball team is widely known as the Sunshine Girls; the Jamaican Fast 5 netball team is known as Jamaica Fast5 or the FAST5 Girls.
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 is governed by Netball South Africa and sponsored by SPAR. South Africa is currently fifth in the INF World Rankings.
The Wales national netball team represents Wales in international netball competition. The Welsh Netball Association, the governing body for netball in Wales, is responsible for Welsh squad selection, international matches and for the training and development of players.
The Malawi national netball team, nicknamed "The Queens", represent Malawi in international netball competitions.
The Cook Islands national netball team represent the Cook Islands in international netball. In recent years they have finished 1st at the 2019 Pacific Games, 1st at the 2018 Nations Cup in Singapore, 10th at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and 7th at the 2007 World Netball Championships; the Cook Islands did not qualify for the 2011 World Championships in Singapore. The Cook Islands team were ranked as high as 10th in the INF World Rankings at one stage, now currently 14th.
The Fiji National Netball Team better known at the Fiji Pearls represents Fiji in international netball competition. Fiji have competed at nine World Netball Championships, finishing sixth in their best placing at the 1999 tournament. They have also competed at two Commonwealth Games, and won the netball event at the South Pacific Games for a number of years. They have won gold at every games since 1991. They are also the current Pacific Champions, winning the all Pacific Series since its inception.
The Malaysia national netball team represents Malaysia in international netball competition at the quadrennial World Netball Championships for the INF Netball World Cup. Malaysia lost the title at the 2005 Asian Netball Championships to Singapore, 53–39. Malaysia qualified for the 2011 World Netball Championships in Singapore, finishing 16th. The team was coached by Choo Kon Lee. As of 2 December 2019, Malaysia is world ranked at 25th. Following the appointment of Australia's Tracey Robinson as head coach in 2016 the team were the 2018 Asian Netball Championships, defeating Sri Lanka. Another title followed at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games captained by Nur Syafazliyana against Singapore. They defended their title at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, beating Singapore 48-42.
The India national netball team is the national netball team of India. The team competed at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, for the first time. As of 27 January 2013, India were 29th in the IFNA World Rankings.
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.
The Northern Ireland national netball team represent Northern Ireland in international netball tournaments such as the Netball World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the European Netball Championship and the Nations Cup. The team was founded in 1955. Northern Ireland won the Nations Cup in both 2009 and 2015 and were silver medallists at the 2012 and 2017 European Netball Championships. As of 21 July 2019, Northern Ireland are listed 11th on the INF World Rankings. Since 2019 the team has been sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers and is sometimes referred to as the PwC Warriors.
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 United States national netball team represents the United States in international netball competition at the quadrennial World Netball Championships for the INF Netball World Cup. The US national team comprises mostly expatriate players from Commonwealth countries where netball is popular, including Jamaica. The team competed at the 2003 World Netball Championships in Jamaica, finishing 9th. Prior to 2008, the final placings of the World Netball Championships were used to determine INF World Rankings, and from 2003–07 United States was ranked 9th. It did not compete at the 2007 World Netball Championships in New Zealand. As of December 2, 2019, United States is ranked in the world at 37th.
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 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines national netball team represent Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in international netball. As of July 2011, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are not ranked in the IFNA World Rankings, due to them not playing the required eight matches since July 2009. At the 2003 World Netball Championships in Jamaica, they finished 13th. At their most recent international competition they 11th at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Netball was one of the ten core sports at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, which was held on the Gold Coast in Australia. This was the sixth staging of netball at the Commonwealth Games since its inclusion in 1998, and the second time the netball event was held in Australia.
Northern Ireland competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast, Australia from April 4 to April 15, 2018. On January 3, 2017 Northern Ireland announced its decision to send a squad of 88 athletes to the games. A final team of 90 competed.
Table tennis is one of the sports contested at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, held in Birmingham, England. This was the sixth staging of table tennis at the Commonwealth Games since its inclusion in 2002, and the second staging within England specifically.
