Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Netball History  

Netball, which is currently played by more than 20 million people worldwide, was first played in England in 1895. In the first half of the 20th century, Netball's popularity grew significantly, with the game being played in many British Commonwealth countries. There were no standard rules at that time with both nine-a-side and five-a-side versions of the game existing.

During an Australian tour of England in 1957, discussions took place concerning standardising the rules of the sport and this led to representatives from England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and The West Indies meeting in Sri Lanka in 1960 to establish The International Federation of Women's Basketball and Netball.

Formal rules were established at this inaugural meeting and it was decided to hold World Championship tournaments every four years, beginning in England in 1963. Netball was included in the Commonwealth Games for the first time in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur. Since then it has featured at the Games in Manchester, England in 2002, in Melbourne, Australia in 2006, in Delhi, India in 2010, and in Glasgow, Scotland in 2014. The most recent Games were held in Gold Coast, Australia in 2018 and the next Games are due to be held in Birmingham this summer.

World Netball (formerly The International Netball Federation (INF)) is the sole governing body for Netball throughout the world and is responsible for the Rules of Netball. WN members include over 70 National Netball Associations grouped into 5 regions - Africa, Asia, The Americas, Europe and Oceania - each with their own Regional Federation.

Israel Netball was officially accepted as a full member of Netball Europe in 2011 and of the International Netball Federation (INF) in 2012.