Netball and the Olympic Movement

Netball and the Olympic Movement
Netball and the Olympic Movement
Highest governing body International Federation of Netball Associations
Characteristics
Olympic IOC-recognised, 1995

Netball is an Olympic recognised sport, a status attained in 1995 after a twenty year period of lobbying. It has never been played at the Summer Olympics, but recognition means that it could be included at some point in the future. Its exclusion was seen by the netball community as a hindrance to the global growth of the game, depriving it of media attention and funding. When the sport gained recognition, it opened up sources of funds that the global netball community had not been able to access before, including the International Olympic Committee (IOC), national Olympic committees and sports organisations, and state and federal governments.

Contents

Women's sport at the Olympics

Main article: Women's sport at the Olympics

We know we can't compete against football and rugby but to have more recognition and insight into the sport would be great

Geva Mentor, England goal defence[1]

Exclusion of netball from the Summer Olympics is part of a pattern of exclusion of women's sports.[2] For example, women's cycling was excluded for many years despite having world championships organised by 1958.[2] Field hockey, a sport included for men as early as 1908, was not open to competition by women until 1980.[2] Lawn bowls is a popular women's sport that has been included in the Commonwealth Games for many years, but has not made the Olympic programme.[2] While primarily a sport for women, netball allows for mixed teams,[3][4] but the Olympics do not allow mixed gender team sports.[2][note 1]

The issues facing netball are part of a larger problem involving female participation in the Olympics.[2] At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, there were 159 medal events for men, but only 86 for women, and 12 for both men and women.[6] Even at the 2000 Summer Olympics, there were still sports that excluded women, such as boxing, wrestling and baseball.[6] The sports Rugby sevens and golf, primarily played men, were chosen for inclusion in the Rio Olympics ahead of netball.[1]

The issue of male over-representation in terms of total number of sports and athletes is structural. In the United Kingdom, for example, more male athletes than female ones receive financial support. Sports officials rationalise this uneven distribution by claiming that there are more opportunities for men to win at the highest level than there are for women.[6] The importance of being part of the Summer Olympics is illustrated by softball, and the benefits the sport derived from its inclusion.[7] This included additional media coverage, especially during Olympic years.[7] Olympic recognition plays an important part in getting sponsorship for local competitions around the world[8] and providing new opportunities for females.[8]

Olympic recognition

Netball is an amazing sport and it was very sad for us for it not to be in the Olympic Games so it would be amazing if we could get it in next time round. It would be brilliant for the girls coming through to get that opportunity to play at the Olympics because it is the sporting pinnacle if you can achieve that goal.

Tamsin Greenway, England wing attack[9]

In 1995, netball became a permanent Olympic recognised sport.[10][11][12][13] after a twenty year period of lobbying[11][14] and a two year probation period.[13] This makes it eligible to be played in future Games.[15][16] One attempt was made in 1989, when Olympic recognition was sought for the West German World Games.[17] This failed.[note 2]

Recognition has meant national associations could become full members of their countries' national Olympic committees.[11][14] National members of International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) were able to apply for that recognition by 1993.[14] The All Australia Netball Association is one national organisation that has become a full member of their national Olympic committee.[12] In 2004, International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognition of the IFNA was renewed.[18] The IFNA has made Olympic recognition part of its long term strategy towards continuing to grow the game.[18]

There have been multiple attempts by netball supporters to get the sport played in the Summer Olympics.[9][12][19] In 1996, the netball leadership actively pursued the possibility of netball being played at the 2000 Summer Olympics.[19] The government of New South Wales encouraged the Australian Olympic Committee to lobby for the inclusion of netball in the 2008 Beijing Olympic games.[12] Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Netball England national team member Tamsin Greenway, two time Olympic gold medallist Kelly Holmes and Olympic heptathlon competitor Denise Lewis are English supporters who would like to see netball in future Olympic games.[9]

The selection of women's team sports for the Olympics may not match participation levels in a country.[16] In Australia for example, 245,300 women and girls play basketball, hockey, soccer, softball and volleyball, compared to 319,500 who play netball.[16]

Some supporters have argued that trying to internationalise the game and have it played in the Summer Olympics has moved netball away from a model of women's sport and more towards a male model of competitive sport. This is viewed by some people as potentially detrimental to the game:

Geary (1995) has debated whether moves to commercialisation would ultimately benefit netball or women's sport. She speculated that professionalising netball might help challenge traditional structures, which have reinforced sport as a site of exploitation and subordination of women. On the other hand there was a danger that such moves would represent conformation to a male model of sport and merely perpetuate a masculine hegemony of capitalist rationality and female discrimination. Broomhall (1993) argued in favour of the latter, that in striving for greater internationalisation, aiming for Olympic competition, and trying to attract sponsorship, women have moved netball closer to a male model of competitive and aggressive sport.[20]

In an extraordinary session in Mexico City in November 2002, the IOC decided to limit the total number of sports to 28, events to 301 and athletes to 10,500, slowing the process of adding new sports to future Olympic Games.[21] At the extraordinary session, the IOC set forth the requirements that a sport must meet before it is eligible for inclusion in the Olympic programme.[5] The table created in the documentation for this meeting is provided below[5]:

Name Example Conditions to be met for inclusion in the Olympic Games[5]
Federation Fédération Internationale de Natation Administer one or several sports at world level and encompass organisations administering such sports at national level (national federations)[5]
Have statutes, practice and activities in conformity with the Olympic Charter[5]
Have adopted and implemented the World Anti-Doping Code[5]
Sport Aquatics For the Games of the Olympiad: be widely practised by men in at least 75 countries and on four continents and by women in at least 40 countries and on three continents[5]
For the Winter Games: be widely practised in at least 20 countries on three continents[5]
Have adopted and implemented the World Anti-Doping Code[5]
Be admitted to the programme seven years before the Olympic Games[5]
Discipline Diving Have a recognised international standing[5]
For the Games of the Olympiad: be widely practised by men in at least 75 countries and on four continents and by women in at least 40 countries and on three continents[5]
For the Winter Games: be widely practised in at least 25 countries on three continents[5]
Be admitted to the programme seven years before the Olympic Games[5]
Event Individual springboard (diving) Have a recognised international standing both numerically and geographically, and have been included at least twice in world or continental championships[5]
Be practised by men in at least 50 countries and on three continents and by women in at least 35 countries and on three continents[5]
Be admitted three years before the Olympic Games[5]

Funding

The lack of Olympic recognition hampered the globalisation of the game in developing countries[22] because the Olympic Solidarity Movement provides access to funding for these nations through the International Olympic Committee.[22] In some countries, such as Tanzania, the lack of access to Olympic funding cut off other options such as funding by the British Council.[23] With official recognition, funding from the IOC, the Olympic Solidarity Movement and the British Council became available to cover costs for travel to international competitions.[22] For some nations, without that assistance, trying to maintain international calibre teams was difficult.[22] Olympic recognition brought money for development into the sport.[18] In 2004, IFNA received a grant of US$10,000 from the IOC for development.[18] IFNA was given an additional US$3,300 a year until 2007 by the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports (ARISF).[18]

Beyond access to funds from the IOC, state and national sporting bodies, and state and federal governments often use IOC status as a funding criteria. This has been the case in Australia,[24] and British Columbia, Canada.[25] In 1985, the Australian Sports Commission and the Office of the Status of Women identified five criteria for obtaining federal funding.[24] One of these was "status as an Olympic sport and its size by registrations."[24][note 3] In British Columbia, one of the guidelines says that in order to receive funding, "the sport must be on the program for either the 2011 or 2013 Canada Games and/or the next scheduled recognized International Multi-Sport Games (Olympics/Paralympics, Pan American or Commonwealth Games, Special Olympic World Games)".[25]

The IOC and its daughter organisations give awards and scholarships.[26][27] In 1995, two of the scholarships offered by the Oceania Olympic Training Centre were given to netballers: Janaet Snape and Darlene Marsters.[26] The Oceania Olympic Training Centre also made it possible for Mona-Lisa Leka from Papua New Guinea to go to Australia to train.[26] In 2007, the IOC awarded Veitu Apana Diro, the Vice-President of the NOC of Papua New, the Trophy for Oceania. This recognition came in part because she had created the nation's national netball organisation in 1965 and actively promoted women's involvement in netball around the country.[27]

Media coverage

While netball may be the most popular women's participation sport in many Commonwealth countries, such as Tanzania, the effort to increase media attention and participation for women's sport often goes to Olympic sports with low participation rates, low rates of interest and few facilities.[16][23] Even then, historically, coverage of women's team sports in the Olympics has been limited.[16] Instead, the media focus on female athletes in non-team competitions and on team sports played equally by both genders.[16]

National associations

National netball associations have been involved with national Olympic committees as members or associate members, or had their administrators generally involved with national Olympic Committees, for a long time. In the case of the Bahamas, by 1960 the Bahamas Olympic Association had as one of its member organisations the national netball association.[28] Netball was also represented in the Dominica Olympic Committee almost from the moment the organisation was founded.[29] Some of the national netball federations that are affiliated with their national Olympic Committee include Netball Singapore[30] and the All Australia Netball Association.[12]

Notes

  1. ^ While team mixed gendered sports are not competed at the Olympics, some mixed gendered events are included. They include equestrian sports, shooting and sailing where men and women compete against each other. In shooting and sailing, women were originally only allowed to competed in mixed gendered events. Single gender events for these sports were not added until a later date.[5]
  2. ^ The tournament still took place, with New Zealand winning.[17]
  3. ^ Netball qualified for funding because it met the other criteria. From 1980 to 1984, the sport received A$497,000 in funding.[24]

References

  1. ^ a b BBC 2011
  2. ^ a b c d e f Dyer 1982, p. 205
  3. ^ Symons & Hemphill 2006, p. 122
  4. ^ Samoa Observer 2011
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r International Olympic Committee 2008, p. 5
  6. ^ a b c Pfister & Hartmann-Tews 2002, p. 274
  7. ^ a b Taylor 2001a, p. 15
  8. ^ a b First National Bank 2010
  9. ^ a b c Jordan 2011
  10. ^ Smartt & Chalmers 2009
  11. ^ a b c Taylor 2001, p. 67
  12. ^ a b c d e Parliament of New South Wales 21 September 2004, p. 11179
  13. ^ a b Netball Australia 1996, p. 6
  14. ^ a b c Taylor 2001a, p. 14
  15. ^ International Federation of Netball Associations
  16. ^ a b c d e f Jones 2004, p. 143
  17. ^ a b Netball New Zealand 2009
  18. ^ a b c d e Shooting for Success 2004, p. 1
  19. ^ a b Netball Australia 1996, p. 7
  20. ^ Taylor 2001a, p. 16
  21. ^ International Olympic Committee 2008, p. 1
  22. ^ a b c d Crocombe 1992, p. 156
  23. ^ a b Massoa & Fasting 2002, p. 120
  24. ^ a b c d Australian Sport Commission & Office of the Status of Women 1985, p. 92
  25. ^ a b Community, Sport and Cultural Development - Province of British Columbia 2010, p. 5
  26. ^ a b c Netball Australia 1996, p. 12
  27. ^ a b International Olympic Committee 2007, p. 2
  28. ^ Ministry of Education & Culture 1970, p. 187
  29. ^ Dominica Olympic Committee 2010
  30. ^ Singapore National Olympic Council 2010

Bibliography

See also

Portal icon Olympics portal
Portal icon Women's sport portal
v · d · eInternational netball
History · Rules · Netball around the world · International Federation of Netball Associations
World Championships · World Youth Championships · Commonwealth Games · World Netball Series · IFNA World Rankings · Teams
Oceania IFNA countries.png
Africa
Confederation of African Netball Associations
Europe
Federation of European Netball Associations
Asia
Americas
Americas Federation of Netball Associations
Other
Associate members
v · d · eSports at the Olympic Games
Summer sports
Winter sports
Past sports
Future sports

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