For Completion of Requirements of MPE142F – Netball

Submitted By: Julia Dominique C. Alvarez
Submitted To: Coach Sonny Montalvo
Date: October 12, 2015

Detailed History of Netball

The history of netball can be traced to the early development of basketball. When it was invented in 1891 by James Naismith. His game was first played in the campus gymnasium on a court roughly half the size of a regulated court today, between two teams of nine players. It was played with a soccer ball that was shot into closed-bottom peach baskets that were nailed to the gymnasium wall.

In 1892 Senda Berenson, also a physical education instructor, adapted Naismith's game for her female students. The sport was modified for women to accommodate social conventions regarding their participation in sport, giving rise to women's basketball. Variations of women's basketball arose across the United States and in England. At a physical training college in England, the rules of women's basketball were modified over several years to form an entirely new sport namely netball. She divided the playing court into thirds, each containing three players per team that could not leave their assigned zone. Players could not hold the ball for more than three seconds, dribble it more than three times, or snatch the ball from another player. The first codified rules of netball were published at the start of the twentieth century, and from there, the new sport spread throughout the British Empire. By 1895, women's basketball had spread across the United States, with variations of the rules emerging in different areas.

The published rules for women's basketball first appeared in 1895, written by Clara Gregory Baer, who was working as a physical education instructor at Sophie Newcomb College in New Orleans during the 1890s. Baer introduced women's basketball to her female students at Sophie Newcomb College as early as 1893. According to the IFNA, Baer received a copy of the basketball rules from Naismith, but she misinterpreted his unclear drawings marking the zones that players could best control, believing that they were restrictions on player movement. Naismith noted that Baer's game was substantially different from his version and recommended that she give her sport a different name. In 1895, Baer published the rules of her game under the name "basquette" these were the first published rules for women's basketball. The rules of this game were substantially different from Berenson's, although similarly adapted for women's participation. Each player was assigned a zone on court to which they were confined, and so a game with seven players per team was played on a court with seven zones. She also forbade dribbling of the ball and guarding, introduced alternating offensive/defensive roles after each goal was scored, and developed rules to maintain elegant posture among players.

The rules of this game were modified at Madame Österberg's college over several years. Substantial revisions were made during a visit in 1897 from another American teacher, Miss Porter, who introduced rules from women's basketball in the United States; the game also moved outdoors onto grass courts, the playing court was divided into three zones, and the baskets were replaced with rings that had nets. By this time, the new sport had also acquired a new name: "net ball". The first codified rules of netball were published in 1900 or 1901 by the Ling Association, with 250 copies of the rules published. From England, the game of netball was spread to all corners of the British Empire.

Eventually, the first unified rules of women's basketball were published in the Spalding Athletic Library Rules for Women's Basket Ball in 1901, with Berenson as editor and with some rules adopted from Baer's game. Starting from 1918, the rules of women's basketball were gradually rewritten to more closely resemble men's basketball, and today basketball is played under the same rules by men and women. However, a different sport emerged when basketball arrived in England.

Starting from the 1920s, national associations were formed to organize the sport in netball-playing nations. International matches were played sporadically in the early 20th century, but were hampered by varying rules in different countries.

During an Australian tour of England in 1957, discussions took place concerning standardizing 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. The rules of netball were standardized internationally. An international governing body was formed to oversee the sport globally, now called the International Netball Federation INF. The second half of the 20th century saw international competition expand, with the sport's premier international competition, the World Netball Championships, starting in 1963. Formal rules were established at this inaugural meeting and it was decided to hold World Championship tournaments every four years, beginning in East Bourne, England, in 1963.

In 1995 Netball was recognized as an Olympic Sport and one of International Federation of Netball Associations’ objectives is to ensure this status is retained and encourage the International Olympic Committee to include Netball in the Olympic Games Program in the future. Netball was included in the Commonwealth Games program for the first time, in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, where Australia took the Gold medal, New Zealand Silver and England the Bronze. Netball has also been contested at the Commonwealth Games since 1998.

Following the global standardization of netball rules, international netball competition expanded during the second half of the 20th century. It was included for the first time in 1985 at the World Games, a sporting competition held every four years for sports that are not contested at the Olympic Games. Netball has not been included in the World Games since.

At the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, netball was included in the programas a demonstration sport. Netball became a competitive sport in the Commonwealth Games at the 1998 Games in Kuala Lumpur. Australia won the inaugural netball competition in 1998, and again at the 2002 Games in Manchester. New Zealand won the next two netball competitions at the 2006 Games in Melbourne and the 2010 Games in Delhi. Netball has since become a "core sport" at the Commonwealth Games (for women only).

Smaller regional tournaments emerged in the 1990s and early 2000s giving increased competition for second-tier nations, including the Asian Netball Championship and the Nations Cup. Netball has also been included in various smaller multi-sport events, including the Pacific Games, All-Africa Games, World Masters Games and the Arafura Games. Netball has never been contested at the Olympic Games, nor has it been shown as a demonstration sport. However, netball became an Olympic "recognized sport" in 1995, paving the way for its possible inclusion as a competitive sport in the future.

From the beginning, netball was widely accepted as a sport suitable for women. Domestic netball competitions arose in several countries during the first half of the 20th century. During the 1988 Australian Bicentenary celebrations, a youth netball tournament was organized in Canberra involving U-21 teams from around the world on 15–24 July. This tournament proved to be a success, and has continued to be held roughly every four years, presently as the World Youth Netball Championships. Fiji hosted the next tournament in 1992, followed by Canada in 1996, Wales in 2000 and the United States in 2005. The most recent tournament was held in the Cook Islands in 2009, with Australia U21 emerging as champions

Increased international competition led to the development of the INF World Rankings in 2008, In which the performances of national teams could be compared. Higher-ranked national teams often compete on an annual basis, either in one-off tests or as part of tours. The Australian and New Zealand national teams have traditionally dominated the international game, although England and Jamaica are becoming increasingly competitive against their antipodean counterparts. Also, a campaign in England was started in 2008 for netball to be included as a demonstration sport at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which was supported by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Today, netball is popular in Commonwealth nations, and is reportedly played by over 20 million people worldwide. It remains primarily a women's sport, although male participation is increasing in some countries. Netball is still largely an amateur sport, despite some countries having high local-level participation. Further developments to the sport are being trialed, including a shortened version of the game played in a World Series format; netball is also being advocated for possible inclusion in the Olympic Games.