Netball in Australia

Netball in Australia

A Netball game held in Australia
National team	Australia
Nickname(s)	Diamonds
Registered players	360,000

Netball is the most popular women's team participation sport in Australia.^[1] In 1985, there were 347,000 players.^[2] In 1995, there were over 360,000 Australian netball players.^[3] 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.^[4] In 2005 and 2006, 56,100 Australians attended one to two netball matches. Of these, 41,600 were women.^[5] 46,200 attended three to five netball matches, with 34,400 of those spectators being women.^[5] 86,400 attended six or more netball matches, with 54,800 spectators being female.^[5] Overall, 188,800 people attended netball matches, with 130,800 being female.^[5] 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), soccer (212,200), harness racing (190,500), cricket (183,200) and tennis (163,500) all being more popular.^[5] 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 SuperDome game in 2004.^[6]

Toowoomba netball team, 1932.

During the 1930s in Australia, much of the participation in netball at universities was not organised and players were not required to register.^[7] It was believed that this was a positive for netball as it allowed people to participate who might not have participated otherwise.^[7] Australia's national team toured England in 1957.^[8] This tour resulted in a number of Commonwealth countries meeting together in order to try to standardise the rules of the game.^[8] The sport's name "netball" became official in Australia in 1970.^[9][10] In Australia 80% of all netball played is played at netball clubs.^[3] The number of netball clubs around Australia has been in decline since the 1940s.^[11] Between 1985 and 2003, only two Western Australian towns decreased the distance that netball players had to travel in order to compete; these towns were Brookton and Pingelly.^[12] Prior to the creation of the ANZ Championship, the National Netball League was the major competition in Australia.^[13] It included teams from the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.^[13]

For netball players 18 years and older, their demographic profile is 18 to 24, unmarried, Australian-born and employed full time.^[1] The average netball player in New South Wales has played the game for 10.8 years.^[14] Most New South Wales based school aged netball players play for school and friends.^[14] Girls from non-English speaking backgrounds were more likely to play for fun than their English speaking counterparts, who often played for school or parents.^[15] Non-English speaking girls were less likely to have mothers who played netball, 18.2%, compared to 35.2% for their English speaking counterparts.^[15] Most New South Wales based adult players played netball for fun and for the physical benefits of the sport.^[15]

The country has hosted several major important international netball events including:

• The 1967 Netball World Championships in Perth, Western Australia.^[16]
• The 2006 Commonwealth Games.^[17]
• The 2011 International Challenge Men’s and Mixed Netball Tournament in Perth.^[18]

The Australian national netball team is regarded as the most successful netball team in international netball. It won the first world championships in 1963 in England,^[10] and nine of the twelve Netball World Championships. In addition to being the current world champions, it is ranked second on the IFNA World Rankings.^[19]

Australia beat the Silver Ferns to win the World Youth Netball Championships in July 2009 in the Cook Islands.^[20] Australia also has a men's national team. It has competed in the 2009 and 2011 International Challenge Men’s and Mixed Netball Tournament.^[18]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Taylor 1998, p. 6
2. ^ Van Bottenburg 2001, p. 214
3. ^ ^{a b} DaCosta & Miragaya 2002, p. 66
4. ^ DaCosta & Miragaya 2002, p. 37
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} Australian Bureau of Statistics 2007
6. ^ Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2008
7. ^ ^{a b} Perth Gazette 1934
8. ^ ^{a b} International Federation of Netball Associations 2008
9. ^ Australian Women's Weekly 1977
10. ^ ^{a b} Australian Women's Weekly 1979
11. ^ Atherly 2006, p. 352
12. ^ Atherly 2006, p. 356
13. ^ ^{a b} Davis & Davis 2006, p. 4
14. ^ ^{a b} Taylor 1998, p. 13
15. ^ ^{a b c} Taylor 1998, p. 14
16. ^ Netball Singapore 2011b
17. ^ Hickey & Navin 2007, p. 35
18. ^ ^{a b} Samoa Observer 2011
19. ^ International Federation of Netball Associations 2011a
20. ^ World Youth Netball Championships - Cook Island 2009 2009

Bibliography

• Australian Bureau of Statistics (2006). "4177.0 - Participation in Sports and Physical Recreation, Australia 2005-06". http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/4177.02005-06?OpenDocument. Retrieved 28 February 2011. 
• Australian Women's Weekly (20 July 1977). "NETBALL". The Australian Women's Weekly (1932-1982) (1932-1982: National Library of Australia): p. 29. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55477247. Retrieved 1 March 2011. 
• DaCosta, Lamartine P.; Miragaya, Ana (2002). Worldwide experiences and trends in sport for all. Meyer & Meyer Sport. ISBN 1841260851. OCLC 248362122. 
• Davis, Luke; Davis, Damien (2006). Netball. Getting into. Macmillan Education. ISBN 0732999871. OCLC 156762948. 
• Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (May 2008). "About Australia: Sporting Events". http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/sporting_events.html. Retrieved 3 March 2011. 
• International Federation of Netball Associations. "History of Netball". http://www.netball.org/Netball.aspx?id=18. Retrieved 13 October 2008. 
• International Federation of Netball Associations (21 January 2011). "Current World Rankings". http://www.netball.org/IFNA.aspx?id=94. Retrieved 4 March 2011. 
• International Federation of Netball Associations (3 April 2009). "Calling All Netball Fans!". International Federation of Netball Associations. http://www.netball.org/news.aspx?id=293. Retrieved 11 April 2009. 
• International Federation of Netball Associations (3 April 2009). "Calling All Netball Fans!". IFNA. http://www.netball.org/news.aspx?id=293. Retrieved 11 April 2009. 
• International Federation of Netball Associations (14 January 2009). "Netball as never seen before". International Federation of Netball Associations. http://www.netball.org/news.aspx?id=271. Retrieved 6 February 2009. 
• International Netball (September 2006). "netball rules". International Netball. http://www.internationalnetball.com/netball_rules.html. Retrieved 28 February 2011. 
• Netball Singapore (2011b). "Milestones". http://www.netball.org.sg/pages/4-milestones. Retrieved 1 March 2011. 
• Samoa Observer (28 February 2011). "A journey of a thousand miles begins for Samoa national men’s netball team". Samoa Observer. http://www.samoaobserver.ws/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31692:a-journey&catid=34:sports&Itemid=54. Retrieved 2 March 2011. 
• Perth Gazette (3 May 1934). "UNIVERSITY SWIMMING". The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879-1954) (Perth, WA: National Library of Australia): p. 15. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article33016344. Retrieved 1 March 2011. 
• Taylor, Tracy (1998). "Issues of cultural diversity in women’s sport". Women in Sport. 29. http://wopared.parl.net/Senate/committee/ecita_ctte/completed_inquiries/2004-07/womeninsport/submissions/sub29att5.pdf. Retrieved 28 February 2011. 
• Van Bottenburg, Maarten (2001). Global games. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252026543. 
• World Youth Netball Championships - Cook Island 2009 (22 August 2009). "NZ loses WYNC final to a fired-up Australian team". http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=1-2376-0-0-0&sID=133764&&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=9813188&sectionID=133764. Retrieved 1 March 2011. 

External links

• Netball Australia