History of NETBALL

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 a physical training college in England, the rules of women's basketball were modified over several years to form an entirely new sport: "net ball". 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.

From the beginning, netball was widely accepted as a sport suitable for women. Domestic netball competitions arose in several countries during the first half of the 20th century. Starting from the 1920s, national associations were formed to organize the sport in netball-playing nations. International matches were played sporadically in the early 20th century, but were hampered by varying rules in different countries.

By 1960, the rules of netball were standardized internationally. An international governing body was formed to oversee the sport globally, now called the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA). The second half of the 20th century saw international competition expand, with the sport's premier international competition, the Netball World Championships, starting in 1963. Netball has also been contested at the Commonwealth Games since 1998.

Today, netball is popular in Commonwealth nations, and is reportedly played by over 20 million people worldwide. It remains primarily a women's sport, although male participation is increasing in some countries. Netball is still largely an amateur sport, despite some countries having high local-level participation. Further developments to the sport are being trialled, including a shortened version of the game played in a World Series format; netball is also being advocated for possible inclusion in the Olympic Games.

Origins from basketball
Where it all began: Naismith's original "basket ball" court in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Netball traces its roots to basketball. Basketball was invented in 1891 by James Naismith, a Canadian physical education instructor working in the United States, who was trying to develop an indoor sport for his students at the YMCA Training School (now Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts.[1] His game was first played in the campus gymnasium on a court roughly half the size of a regulation NBA court today, between two teams of nine players. It was played with a soccer ball that was shot into closed-bottom peach baskets that were nailed to the gymnasium wall.[2]

Women teachers became interested in Naismith's game soon afterwards. Senda Berenson, a physical education instructor at nearby Smith College, read an article on Naismith's game, and in 1892 adapted his game for her female students.[3] Berenson devised rules that maintained feminine decorum and slowed down potentially "strenuous" play. She divided the playing court into thirds, each containing three players per team that could not leave their assigned zone. Players also could not hold the ball for more than three seconds, dribble it more than three times, or snatch the ball from another player.[2] The first game of women's basketball was played in 1892 at Smith College. By 1895, women's basketball had spread across the United States, with variations of the rules emerging in different areas.[2]

Published rules for women's basketball first appeared in 1895, written by Clara Gregory Baer, who was working as a physical education instructor at Sophie Newcomb College in New Orleans during the 1890s. Baer introduced women's basketball to her female students at Sophie Newcomb College as early as 1893.[4] According to the IFNA, Baer received a copy of the basketball rules from Naismith, but she misinterpreted his unclear drawings marking the zones that players could best control, believing that they were restrictions on player movement.[1] Naismith noted that Baer's game was substantially different from his version and recommended that she give her sport a different name.[5] In 1895, Baer published the rules of her game under the name "basquette"; these were the first published rules for women's basketball. The rules of this game were substantially different from Berenson's, although similarly adapted for women's participation. Each player was assigned a zone on court to which they were confined, and so a game with seven players per team was played on a court with seven zones.[6] She also forbade dribbling of the ball and guarding, introduced alternating offensive/defensive roles after each goal was scored, and developed rules to maintain elegant posture among players.[5][7][8]

Eventually, the first unified rules of women's basketball were published in the Spalding Athletic Library Rules for Women's Basket Ball in 1901, with Berenson as editor and with some rules adopted from Baer's game.[9] Starting from 1918, the rules of women's basketball were gradually rewritten to more closely resemble men's basketball,[2] and today basketball is played under the same rules by men and women. However, a different sport emerged when basketball arrived in England.
"Net Ball" in the British Empire

Basketball was first introduced to England in 1892 through the YMCA at Birkenhead in Merseyside, although the sport did not gain significant popularity in that country for another two decades.[10] Basketball was also taught at other institutions in England, either by visiting American instructors or by English people returning from visits to North America.

In 1893, Martina Bergman-Österberg informally introduced one version of basketball to her female physical training students at the Hampstead Physical Training College in London, after having seen the game being played in the United States.[11] Madame Österberg advocated physical fitness for women to better prepare them for motherhood and in the wider context of women's emancipation.[12] Basketball was more formally introduced to Madame Österberg's college by an American lecturer, Dr Toles (alternatively spelled "Toll"), in 1895.[13][14] This version of the game was played with waste paper baskets for goals that were hung on walls; there were also no lines, boundaries, or circles as in the modern game.[13]

The rules of this game were modified at Madame Österberg's college (which moved to Dartford, Kent in 1895) over several years. Substantial revisions were made during a visit in 1897 from another American teacher, Miss Porter, who introduced rules from women's basketball in the United States; the game also moved outdoors onto grass courts, the playing court was divided into three zones, and the baskets were replaced with rings that had nets.[5][13] By this time, the new sport had also acquired a new name: "net ball".[15] The first codified rules of netball were published in 1900[15] or 1901[14] by the Ling Association (later the Physical Education Association), with 250 copies of the rules published. From England, the game of netball was spread to all corners of the British Empire.

In some countries, the sport still retained the name "women's (outdoor) basketball" upon its arrival. "Women's basketball" arrived in Australia reportedly as early as 1897,[7] although most sources agree that it was established in that country around the start of the 20th century.[16] "Women's basketball" arrived in New Zealand in 1906[17] or 1907[18] from Australia. By 1909, "netball" was also being played in schools in Jamaica.[19] Netball spread throughout much of the British Empire during the first half of the 20th century.
Development in the early 20th century
School netball team in Greater Manchester, 1948. Netball spread quickly among schools in the early 20th century.

From the start, netball was developed as a women's sport: existing outside the sphere of male-dominated sports, netball did not encounter the initial social opposition that faced women in other sports in the early 20th century.[20] Women's participation in netball in the early 20th century was widely accepted, as the sport avoided physical contact and did not involve male participation.[21][22] The sport spread substantially through the school systems of many netball-playing countries.

National netball associations were established, starting from the 1920s, to administer various organised netball leagues and organisations on a national level. The first such organisation was the New Zealand Basketball Association, which was formed in 1924.[17] Equivalent organisations were formed in other countries, including the All England Net Ball Association in 1926,[13] the All Australia Women's Basketball Association in 1927,[16] and the Jamaican Netball Association in 1957.[19]

Competitive netball in the early 20th century mostly comprised local leagues or nationwide domestic tournaments. International competition was initially hindered by variations of rules in different countries. Australia and New Zealand contested the first international game of netball (still called "women's basketball" in both countries) in 1938, when the New Zealand team toured Australia, playing local and state teams as well as the Australian national team. At the time, Australia played seven-a-side netball, while New Zealand played nine-a-side. For these matches, Australian seven-a-side netball was adopted, along with some netball rules from England.[17] In their one encounter for that tour, Australia's national team defeated New Zealand 40–11. England played Scotland and Wales in the first international matches of "netball" in 1949, with England winning 25–3 in both games.[15]
[edit] Standardisation and the global game

Following the 1956 Australian tour of England, the first efforts were made in earnest to establish unifying international rules for netball. These efforts culminated in 1960 with representatives from key netball-playing countries – including England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka (then "Ceylon"), as well as the West Indies – agreeing on a codified set of rules, with seven-a-side teams;[13] an international body was also formed to govern the sport globally, called the International Federation of Women's Basketball and Netball (now the International Federation of Netball Associations).[1] The sport was referred to as "netball" in most countries, although New Zealand and Australia still used the name "women's basketball"; both countries eventually adopted the name "netball" in 1970.[16][17]

This meeting also resulted in the creation of a world tournament to be played every four years, now called the Netball World Championships. The inaugural tournament was played in Eastbourne, England in 1963, and tournaments have since been played quadrennially. Since their inception, Australia has dominated the World Championships, winning nine of the twelve tournaments played. The most recent tournament was the 2007 Championships played in Auckland, with Australia emerging as winners. The next tournament is scheduled for 2011 in Singapore.
[edit] Expanding international competition
Malawi and Fiji at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Following the global standardisation of netball rules, international netball competition expanded during the second half of the 20th century. It was included for the first time in 1985 at the World Games, a sporting competition held every four years for sports that are not contested at the Olympic Games. New Zealand won the inaugural World Games netball competition, and again in 1989. Australia won the third and last World Games netball competition in 1993. Netball has not been included in the World Games since.[23]

During the 1988 Australian Bicentenary celebrations, a youth netball tournament was organised in Canberra involving U-21 teams from around the world on 15–24 July.[24] This tournament proved to be a success, and has continued to be held roughly every four years, presently as the World Youth Netball Championships. Fiji hosted the next tournament in 1992, followed by Canada in 1996, Wales in 2000 and the United States in 2005.[1] The most recent tournament was held in the Cook Islands in 2009, with Australia U21 emerging as champions.[25]

At the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, netball was included in the programme as a demonstration sport.[26] Netball became a competitive sport in the Commonwealth Games at the 1998 Games in Kuala Lumpur. Australia won the inaugural netball competition in 1998, and again at the 2002 Games in Manchester. New Zealand won the netball competition at the 2006 Games in Melbourne, and are the reigning Commonwealth champions. Netball has since become a "core sport" at the Commonwealth Games (for women only), and will be contested at the 2010 Games in Delhi.[27]

Netball has never been contested at the Olympic Games, nor has it been shown as a demonstration sport. However, netball became an Olympic "recognised sport" in 1995, paving the way for its possible inclusion as a competitive sport in the future. A campaign in England was started in 2008 for netball to be included as a demonstration sport at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which was supported by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.[28]

Smaller regional tournaments emerged in the 1990s and early 2000s giving increased competition for second-tier nations, including the Asian Netball Championship and the Nations Cup. Netball has also been included in various smaller multi-sport events, including the Pacific Games, World Masters Games and the Arafura Games. It was also included as a demonstration sport at the 1999 All-Africa Games in South Africa, and is scheduled to be demonstrated again at the 2011 Games in Zambia.[29]

Increased international competition led to the development of the IFNA World Rankings in 2008, in which the performances of national teams could be compared.[30] Higher-ranked national teams often compete on an annual basis, either in one-off tests or as part of tours. The Australian and New Zealand national teams have traditionally dominated the international game, although England and Jamaica are becoming increasingly competitive against their Antipodean counterparts.
[edit] Elite domestic competitions
ANZ Championship pre-season game in Sydney, March 2009.

Nationwide netball competitions emerged in different countries in the first half of the twentieth century, starting from the 1920s. These were primarily contested between local-level clubs or regions/states. Elite domestic competitions did not emerge until the late twentieth century. These competitions have usually involved franchises rather than club or representative teams, and have focused on gaining a larger profile for the sport, as well as attracting greater sponsorship, investment and media coverage.

The Commonwealth Bank Trophy (CBT) was the first elite domestic competition in Australia, starting in 1997.[31] It succeeded the Mobil League, which was still a state-representative club-based competition. The Commonwealth Bank Trophy was televised on ABC Sport, although coverage was usually limited to a few live games and a weekly highlights series. The competition lasted for eleven years, playing its final season in 2007, after which it was replaced by the ANZ Championship.

New Zealand introduced its first elite domestic competition in 1998, when the previous Coca-Cola Cup, a nationwide domestic competition contested between regional-representative teams, was reorganised into a franchise-based competition, with each franchise incorporating one or more New Zealand regions.[17] After four years, the competition became known as the National Bank Cup (NBC).[32] Unlike its counterpart in Australia, the National Bank Cup received wide media coverage in New Zealand. During this time, netball achieved a higher profile in New Zealand than in Australia.[33] The NBC played its last season in 2007, after which it was replaced by the ANZ Championship.

In 1999, Singapore started an elite domestic competition, the Netball Super League, with the eventual goal of attaining professional status for the sport. The competition is contested between six domestic franchises, with plans to expand franchise bases into Malaysia.[34]

Britain introduced the Netball Superleague in 2005. It replaced the previous Fisher & Paykel Super Cup, which started in England in 2001,[35] and was established to improve performances on the domestic and international stages.[36] The Superleague started with eight teams, seven from England and one from Wales; a Scottish team was added for the 2008–09 season. Sky Sports began televising the competition in 2006, attracting an overall netball viewing audience of 2.5 million people after its first year, and coinciding with a 6% increase in netball participation at grassroots level in England.[37]

The Commonwealth Bank Trophy in Australia and the National Bank Cup in New Zealand played their last seasons in 2007. Netball Australia and Netball New Zealand convened to replace them with a joint domestic competition to start in 2008, contested between domestic franchises from both nations: the competition became known as the ANZ Championship.[38] For the first time, all matches were telecast live in both countries. Player salaries were increased to a point where the sport is now semi-professional in both countries, with the expectation that the sport will become fully professional within a few years.[39][40]
[edit] Present status and future

The IFNA reports that over 20 million people currently play netball in more than 70 countries, with just under 60 national netball associations affiliated with the worldwide governing body.[41] It is the most popular team sport for women in Australia and New Zealand,[42][43] and remains a popular women's sport throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, including in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Jamaica. Television coverage has increased the profile of the sport in countries with elite domestic competitions, but in many cases not to the extent of well-established male-dominated sports. Netball has also yet to reach the status of a fully professional sport in any country.

Further developments to the sport are being trialled. A new shortened version of the sport was announced by the IFNA in December 2008, called "fastnet". Featuring six-minute playing quarters, "power plays" in which goals count for double points, and two-point shots similar to three-point field goals in basketball, the new version of the sport has been likened to cricket's Twenty20. The format is primarily used in the World Netball Series, which was first contested in October 2009 and is scheduled to be held annually. This new competition will be contested between the top six netballing nations, according to the IFNA World Rankings.[44]

Major international competitions in the immediate future include the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and the 2011 Netball World Championships in Singapore. Efforts were started in England in 2008 advocating netball's inclusion in the Summer Olympic Games programme, either as a demonstration sport or as a fully competitive sport in future Games. Advocates for netball's inclusion in the Olympic Games have promoted the sport as being able to further increase women's participation in sport, as well as providing more female sporting role models.[45] However, IFNA president Molly Rhone publicly commented on the difficulties in getting netball included in the Olympic Games programme.

Netball

Rules of Netball This is a summary of the general rules of netball. The full Official Netball Rules can be purchased through our SHOP
Positional Responsibilities
Each position has a main role to play:
GS To score goals and to work in and around the circle with the GA
GA To feed and work with GS and to score goals
WA To feed the circle players giving them shooting opportunities
C To take the Centre Pass and to link the defence and the attack
WD To look for interceptions and to prevent the WA from feeding the circle
GD To win the ball and reduce the effectiveness of the GA
GK To work with the GD and to prevent the GS from scoring goals

Rules Summary
Court Areas
Offside: Player moving out of own area, with or without ball (on a line counts as within either area).
Over a Third: Ball may not be thrown over two transverse lines without being touched.
Out of Court: Ball is out of court when it contacts anything outside the court area (not the goalpost). The ball is returned into play by a Throw-In taken from a point outside the line where the ball left the court. The player stands with foot close to the line, and the ball must be thrown onto the court within three seconds.

Athletics

Sprinting Techniques

Steps

Arm ActionArms should swing from the shoulder. Keep them relaxed and at approximately 90 degrees of flexion. Focus on swinging your arms in a straight line.

Body Posture Your entire body should lean forward slightly as you run. Do not bend from your waist, this will adversely affect your center of gravity and correct running mechanics. Instead the slight lean forward should come from the ground up. Try also to keep your head and trunk still and your entire body relaxed.

Ground Contact Run on the balls of your feet NOT your toes. If you think about it your toes are fairly weak and offer little or no stability.

Stride Length There is a fine line between over striding and under striding. If stride length is too great and your foot lands in front of your center of gravity it will cause you to brake.
If your stride length is too short your stride frequency will be high but you won't cover much ground. Not the most efficient use of your energy!