Netball

Netball is a non-contact team sport originating from the United States similar to, and derived from, basketball. Invented in 1895 by Clara Gregory Baer,[1] a pioneer in women's sport, netball is now pre-eminently played as a women's team sport in Australia and New Zealand and is popular in the West Indies, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom. Over 20 million people play netball in more than 70 countries.

In 1895, Clara Baer, a gym teacher from New Orleans, asked Naismith for a copy of the basketball rules. Baer identified Naismith's unclear pencil markings showing the areas players should best patrol as the areas within which women players could move, and consequently introduced "zoning areas".[3] This was the start of netball’s formalization. These zoning rules, along with many other provisions (such as elimination of the dribbling rule), were all included in the first draft of Rules for Women’s Basketball. In 1901, this set of rules was ratified and netball officially became a competitive sport. However, it was several years before regular competitions were held.

On the 6th June 1907 an exhibition of "Net Ball" was organised between the "Ladies" and "Gentlemen" of the Regent Street Polytechnic as part of a garden party to celebrate the opening of their sports ground in Chiswick (West London). Poly Netball Club can trace an unbroken heritage back to this match and are therefore seen as the world's oldest netball club.

Netball was first played in England in 1895 at Madame Osterburg's College[4] and soon spread throughout Australia, the then-British colonies of Jamaica and Antigua, and indeed most British Commonwealth territories. It did not yet have hard-and-fast rules. So loose were the regulations, in fact, that some games were played by nine players in each team, while some were played with only five players in each. The nets used were also ineffective—they were not open at both ends, so after each goal was scored, the umpire had to retrieve the ball from the top of the post. Netball has been played at the Commonwealth Games since 1998 after becoming a recognised Olympic sport in 1995.