The history of netball can be traced to the early development of basketball. A year after basketball was invented in 1891, 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 the Madame Österberg Physical Training College Dartford, England, the rules of women's basketball were modified over several years to form an entirely new sport: "net ball". The sport was invented to encourage young females to be physically active and energetic. 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.
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. Starting from the 1920s, national associations were formed to organise 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.
By 1960, the rules of netball were standardized internationally and an international governing body was formed to oversee the sport globally. Initially called the International Netball Federation (INF), the organization was later renamed World Netball. The second half of the 20th century saw international competition expand, with the sport's premier international competition, the INF Netball World Cup, starting in 1963. Netball has also been contested at the Commonwealth Games since 1998.
Today, netball is popular in Commonwealth nations, and also in the Republic of Ireland, and is reportedly played by over 20 million people worldwide. It remains primarily a women's sport. Further developments to the sport are being trialed, including a shortened version of the game played in a World Series format; netball groups are also seeking inclusion in the Olympic Games.
Origins from basketball
Netball traces its roots to basketball. Basketball was invented in 1891 by James Naismith, a Canadian physical education instructor working in the United States, who was trying to develop an indoor sport for his students at the YMCA Training School (now Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts. His game was first played in the campus gymnasium on a court roughly half the size of a regulation NBA 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.
Women teachers became interested in Naismith's game soon afterwards. Senda Berenson, a physical education instructor at nearby Smith College, read an article on Naismith's game, and in 1892 adapted his game for her female students. Berenson devised rules that maintained feminine decorum and slowed down potentially "strenuous" play. She divided the playing court into thirds, each containing three players per team that could not leave their assigned zone. Players also 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 game of women's basketball was played in 1892 at Smith College. By 1895, women's basketball had spread across the United States, with variations of the rules emerging in different areas.
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 International Netball Federation, 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..
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.
"Net ball" in the British Empire
Basketball was first introduced to England in 1892 through the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) at Birkenhead in Merseyside, although the sport did not gain significant popularity in that country for another two decades. Basketball was also taught at other institutions in England, either by visiting American instructors or by English people returning from visits to North America.
In 1893, Martina Bergman-Österberg informally introduced one version of basketball to her female physical training students at the Hampstead Physical Training College in London, after having seen the game being played in the United States. Madame Österberg advocated physical fitness for women to better prepare them for motherhood and in the wider context of women's emancipation.. Basketball was more formally introduced to Madame Österberg's college by an American lecturer, Dr Toles (alternatively spelled "Toll"), in 1895. This version of the game was played with waste paper baskets for goals that were hung on walls; there were also no lines, boundaries, or circles as in the modern game.
The rules of this game were modified at Madame Österberg's college (which moved to Dartford, Kent in 1895) 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 (later the Physical Education Association), with 250 copies of the rules published. From England, the game of netball was spread to all corners of the British Empire.
In some countries, the sport still retained the name "women's (outdoor) basketball" upon its arrival. "Women's basketball" arrived in Australia reportedly as early as 1897, although most sources agree that it was established in that country around the start of the 20th century. "Women's basketball" arrived in New Zealand in 1906 or 1907. from Australia. By 1909, "netball" was also being played in schools in Jamaica. Netball spread throughout much of the British Empire during the first half of the 20th century.
Development in the early 20th century
From the start, netball was developed as a women's sport: existing outside the sphere of male-dominated sports, netball did not encounter the initial social opposition that faced women in other sports in the early 20th century. Women's participation in netball in the early 20th century was widely accepted, as the sport avoided physical contact and did not involve male participation. The sport spread substantially through the school systems of many netball-playing countries.
National netball associations were established, starting from the 1920s, to administer various organised netball leagues and organisations on a national level. The first such organisation was the New Zealand Basketball Association, which was formed in 1924. Equivalent organisations were formed in other countries, including the All England Net Ball Association in 1926, the All Australia Women's Basketball Association in 1927, and the Jamaican Netball Association in 1957. In 1949, wheelchair netball was introduced at the Grand Festival of Paraplegic Sport and was played at every festival until 1954.
Competitive netball in the early 20th century mostly comprised local leagues or nationwide domestic tournaments. International competition was initially hindered by variations of rules in different countries. Australia and New Zealand contested the first international game of netball (still called "women's basketball" in both countries) in 1938, when the New Zealand team toured Australia, playing local and state teams as well as the Australian national team. At the time, Australia played seven-a-side netball, while New Zealand played nine-a-side. For these matches, Australian seven-a-side netball was adopted, along with some netball rules from England. In their one encounter for that tour, Australia's national team defeated New Zealand 40–11. England played Scotland and Wales for the first time in the 1949 England Scotland Wales Netball Series, with England winning 25–3 in both games.
Standardisation and the global game
Following the 1956 Australian tour of England, the first efforts were made in earnest to establish unifying international rules for netball. These efforts culminated in 1960 with representatives from key netball-playing countries – including England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka (then "Ceylon"), as well as the British West Indies – agreeing on a regularised set of rules, with seven-a-side teams; an international body was also formed to govern the sport globally, called the International Federation of Women's Basketball and Netball (now the International Netball Federation). The sport was referred to as "netball" in most countries, although New Zealand and Australia still used the name "women's basketball"; both countries eventually adopted the name "netball" in 1970.
This meeting also resulted in the creation of a world tournament to be played every four years, now called the Netball World Cup. The inaugural tournament was played in Eastbourne, England in 1963, and tournaments have since been played quadrennially. Since their inception, Australia has dominated the World Championships, winning 12 of the 16 tournaments played. The most recent tournament was the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town, with Australia emerging as winners. The next tournament is scheduled for 2027 in Sydney.
Expanding international competition
Following the global standardisation 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.
During the 1988 Australian Bicentenary celebrations, a youth netball tournament was organised 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.