netball

In 1871 Dr James Naismith, a Canadian immigrant and YMCA instructor in the USA, invented the game of Netball and basketball.

In England in 1895, ladies using broomsticks for posts and wet paper bags for baskets played the game of basketball on grass. Their long skirts, bustle backs, nipped waists and button up shoes impeded running and their leg-of-mutton sleeves restricted arm movement making dribbling and long passes difficult. The ladies decided to adapt the game to accommodate these restrictions.

In 1898 the court was divided into thirds, the number of players increased from five to nine and a smaller ball (a soccer ball) was used. There were two umpires, two scorers and two timekeepers – almost as many officials as players for each match.

In those early days the nets were not open at both ends and after each goal was scored, the umpire had the task of retrieving the ball from the top of the post.

In England in 1901 the first set of rules was published and ‘netball’ officially came into existence in that country. At the turn of the century school teachers from England traveled to many countries of the then British Empire, and the game of netball or "ladies basketball" (if prior to 1901) went with them.

Once established, the game developed locally and soon each country had its own separate rules and distinct methods of play, even its own name for the game. In Australia and New Zealand where the game was established before 1901, it was called Women’s Basketball and the name was changed to Netball in these two countries in 1970.

In 1963, the first World Tournament with 11 teams competing, was held in England and Australia remained undefeated. World Championships are staged every four years.

Netball was a demonstration sport at the Auckland Games in 1990 but was not included in the Commonwealth Games program until 1998 in Kuala Lumpur. Australia won the Commonwealth Games Gold Medal in 1998 and 2002 and New Zealand won the Gold Medal in the 2006 Games.