Home > List > Netball

Netball is a team ball sport derived from basketball, developed in England in 1890’s. It is played by two teams of seven players each, which aim to score goals by throwing the ball through a high ring lcoated at each end of the court.

The aim of the game is to score more than the opposing team. Goals are scored when a player positioned as an attacker shoots the ball through the goal ring. The goalposts are located in the shooting circle, which is at both ends of the court. The teams defend one shooting circle, and they attack the other circle.

There are seven players on each team, and each must wear a "bib" showing one of the abbreviations for their playing position. There are only two positions for attacking shooting, two positions for defense, and the rest are restricted to two thirds of the court.

---

---

Ganmes are divided into quarters of 15 minutes duration. At the start of each quarter and after a goal is scored, play restarts from the center of the court with a 'center pass'. The possession of the ball for the center pass alternates between the teams, regardless of which team scored the last goal.

There are other netball variations, indoor netball, fast 5, beach netball, walking netball, mixed netball and netball for those with a disability, including deaf netball and wheelchair netball. Both women and men can play netball.

Versions of Netball

• Fast5 — a variation of netball, formerly known as Fastnet, with only 5 players per team.
• Indoor Netball — a variation of netball played indoors with netting all around the court.
• Beach Netball — netball played in the sand on a half court.
• Walking Netball — a version of netball in which players are only allowed to walk during game play, developed for older people to keep active.

Related Sports

• Cestoball — an Argentinian female sport similar to netball.
• Ringball — a low key South African version of netball
• Korfball — a mixed-gender ball sport that is similar to netball and basketball, developed in The Netherlands.
• Basketball — a court sport where players attempt to shoot the ball through the hoop on the opponent’s court, moving the ball by throwing and dribbling.

---

---

Related Pages

• About the Netball World Cup, previously known as the Netball World Championships
• Netball at the Commonwealth Games
• Netball at the Olympics
• Complete list of sports
• The Encyclopedia of Sports