Let’s Learn About Netball!
This is a dispatch from Kasey Symons,Global Ambassador for Project: Wander Bra, based in Australia. Our ambassadors provide global perspectives on the impact of sports, in partnership with the Women’s Sports Foundation. Follow Kasey’s adventures @kasey_writes
When I talk to people from North America about women’s sport, I always get a confused look when I mention the sport of netball.
This is wild to me (and, like my blog post on Australian rules football, yes I am biased about our sports down under!), as netball was developed from a North American sport! And it is also Australia’s most-participated team sport for women and girls.
The game was adopted from Dr James Naismith’s original rules for basketball when court markings were misinterpreted as zones that restricted movement of players within thirds of the court. When the game made it to England, rules were further changed to make it more ‘appropriate’ for women, including removing dribbling and keeping the zones intact so women didn’t need to run so much. I’m sure many of us have heard the incredibly damaging faux medical advice that was presented throughout history to restrict women’s participation in sport, like running will make your uterus fall out…
Netball was designed to keep women somewhat active while still presenting the desired feminine qualities of the Victorian era. In 1931, it was also decided that the game should be played in silence! They literally silenced women—imagine modern athletes having to abide by that rule today!
So netball was unfortunately developed with some of these myths in mind, but the modern game has been able to start to shake some of these stereotypes by being incredibly fast and physical.
The 1963 Australian netball World Cup team. Image: Netball Australia.
As colonisation continued, netball was spread throughout the Commonwealth and used as a way to continue to promote a certain type of femininity throughout the colonies. Today, netball is most popular in England, of course, and Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Jamaica and these nations reflect the most successful teams.
Sonetball has an interesting history, to say the least! In Australia, the code still faces challenges on being more inclusive to move beyond its roots in promoting hyper-femininity and becoming more reflective of diverse women and non-binary people. We have a way to go, particularly in how the sport reflects First Nations people.
As of 2024, there have only been three First Nations women to represent Australia in our national team called the Diamonds. The second First Nations woman to become a Diamond, Sharon Finnan-White, is working hard to change this and has established a First Nations Academy of Excellence to support more First Nations women in elite netball pathways. She is a legend and someone I am most grateful to call a friend.
Me and Sharon Finnan-White in Townsville in 2024.
Netball still has some challenges in overcoming the broader impacts of the game’s history from a diversity and inclusion standpoint, and it also suffers from being a mostly women’s sport in terms of media coverage, funding and support. For example, did you know there was another Women’s World Cup happening in 2023?
While most were focussed on the exciting 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, the Netball World Cup was also happening in South Africa. Australia actually won that World Cup (so awesome!) but even here in Australia, many were unaware that is was happening. Women’s sports catching up to their male counterparts seem to prevail in the media in comparison to more traditional women’s sports, but I digress!
As you can see, as a historically women’s only sport, netball isn’t perfect, but it is still an incredibly exciting game with amazing athletes.
I very much recommend checking out some of these videos on YouTube to learn a bit about the game, like Lexi Mitchell’s piece on the history and our rivalry with New Zealand, and watch the highlights of our Diamonds World Cup victory over England, and highlights of the 2024 SuperNetball Grand Final which is the elite domestic competition in Australia. And you can read some more on the history of the game from my friend Kirby Fenwick.
If you fall in love with this sport (how can you not?!), here are some of the media outlets to follow that I highlighted in my last blog on independent media. Netball Scoop is an incredible website and resource for netball fans. The team does not miss a beat, covering netball from all over the world and securing excellent interviews and feature pieces. For some netty pods, check out The Netty Life and No Dribble.
Netball is fierce, fast and fun. It is one of my absolute favourite sports and I hope through this role as a Sports Bra WanderBra Ambassador I can bring it to the attention of more of my women in sport friends across the globe.