Netball in Asia
Netball is popular in several parts of Asia.[1][2][3][4] The IFNA Asia region includes countries such as Australia (geopolitically considered part of Oceania), India, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka.[5] The major regional competition is the Asian Netball Championship.[1][2][3][4] In 1994, the first Asian Youth Championship was held in Hong Kong.[6]
Australia
Netball has the highest participation rate of any team sport—male or female—in Australia;[7][8][9][10] however, it has not managed to become a large spectator sport.[11] In 2005 and 2006, netball was the 10th most popular spectator sport for women after tennis.[12] The country set an attendance record for a netball match with a record crowd of 14,339 at the Australia – New Zealand Netball Test held at the Sydney SuperDome game in 2004.[13]
Netball was brought to Australia by English school teachers, with a team having been organised by 1904 at Parramatta Superior Schools.[7] In 1927, a national federation for the sport, Australian Women's Basketball Association, was created.[7] During the 1930s in Australia, much of the participation in netball at universities was not organised and players were not required to register.[14] It was believed that this was a positive for netball as it allowed people to participate who might not have participated otherwise.[14] Australia's national team toured England in 1957. This tour resulted in a number of Commonwealth countries meeting together in order to try to standardise the rules of the game.[15] The sport's name "netball" became official in Australia in 1970.[16][17] Netball was one of the eight foundation sports when the Australian Institute of Sport was created.[7] The national federation changed their name to Netball Australia in 1995.[7] The Government of New South Wales committed over A$5,000,000 to creating and improving sporting facilities in the state. Some of this funding went to improving netball facilities.[7]
In Australia 80% of netball is played at netball clubs.[10] The number of netball clubs around Australia has been in decline since the 1940s.[18] Still, there are around 350,000 registered players and over 1.2 million total players in the country.[19] Prior to the creation of the ANZ Championship, the National Netball League was the major competition in Australia.[20] It included teams from the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.[20]
The Australian national netball team is regarded as the most successful netball team in international netball. It won the first world championships in 1963 in England,[17] and nine of the twelve Netball World Championships to date. In addition to being the current world champion, it is ranked first on the INF World Rankings.[21] Australia beat the Silver Ferns to win the World Youth Netball Championships in July 2009 in the Cook Islands.[22] Australia also has a men's national team. It has competed in the 2009 and 2011 International Challenge Men's and Mixed Netball Tournament.[23]
India
Women started playing netball in India as early as 1926.[24] The Sports Authority of India and the Government of India have provided much funding with the goal of improving the performance of the country's youth national team.[24] India had a national team compete in the fifth Asian Netball Championship in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2001.[1] National team captains include Prachi Tehlan, who captained the side that competed in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.[24] Some of the important netball competitions held in India include the 2010 Commonwealth Games,[25] and the 7th Asian Youth Netball Championship, held from 3 to 10 July 2010, at the Thyagaraj Stadium.[24] Some of the top performances for the India national netball team include coming in sixth place at the 2010 Nations Cup[26] and coming in fourth at the 2010 Asian Youth Netball Championship.[6]
Malaysia
Netball is the most popular women's sport in Malaysia.[27] The national organisation, Malaysian Netball Association, was created in 1978.[27] The sport is part of the national curriculum beginning at year 3.[27] Netball is promoted at the Sport Carnival for All (KESUMA).[28] In 1998, 113 districts held netball competitions.[28] That year, there were 1,718 registered netball teams in the country.[28] In 2001, netball was sufficiently popular in South East Asia for it to be included in the 21st Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur.[6] Malaysia had a national team compete in the fifth Asian Netball Championship in Colombo in 2001.[1] Malaysia also competed in the 7th Asian Youth Netball Championship in India in 2010.[24] Petronas, the national oil company, has been a major sponsor of netball in the country. This type of sponsorship was encouraged by the government as part of the Rakan Sukan programme.[29] As of August 2015, the women's national team was ranked number twenty-two in the world.[30]
Singapore
Netball Singapore is the official governing body for the sport in Singapore.[31] It was created in 1962, with 63 registered clubs.[31] There are 80,000 netball players in Singapore.[31] There are several variations of netball played in the country, including beach netball.[31] In Singapore, the SSC is responsible for maintaining 8 netball courts.[32] Singapore has several national squads: Opens, 21 & Under, 19 & Under (Post School), 19 & Under (Schools), 17 & Under, and 14 & Under.[33] The national team competed in its first major tournament in 1967 at the Netball World Championships.[6] Singapore had a national team compete in the fifth Asian Netball Championship held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2001.[1] Singapore competed in the 7th Asian Youth Netball Championship held in 2010 in India.[24] As of August 2015, the women's national team was ranked number fithteen in the world.[34] In 2000, netball was sufficiently popular that the professional Netball Super League (NSL) was formed.[6] The Netball Super League is a seven-week-long netball tournament developed to cater for elite players in Singapore.[35] It was established and is governed by Netball Singapore and six teams compete.[6] In 2004, the audience was big enough that the Netball Super League was broadcast on television.[6] The Stingrays came in second in 2008 and first in the 2009 competition.[35] The 2010 competition was won by the Malaysian Arowanas.[36]
Sri Lanka
Netball was first played in Sri Lanka in 1921.[37] The first game was played by Ceylon Girl Guide Company at Kandy High School.[37] The first interschool march was played between Kandy High School and Colombo Ladies College in February 1925.[37] In 1927, netball was played at Government Training College for the first time. This helped spread the game around Sri Lanka.[37] The game was being played at Methodist College Colombo and Bishop's College by the 1930s.[37] By 1952, Sri Lankan clubs were playing Indian club sides.[37] By 1952, Sri Lankan clubs were playing Indian club sides.[37] In 1956, Sri Lanka played its first international match against Australia's national team in Sri Lanka.[37] Sri Lanka took part in the 1960 netball meeting of Commonwealth countries to try to standardise the rules for the game.[25] This meeting took place in Sri Lanka.[25] In 1972, the Netball Federation of Sri Lanka was created.[37] In 1983, Netball Federation of Sri Lanka was dissolved by the government.[37] Sri Lanka had a national team compete in the fifth Asian Netball Championship held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2001.[1] Sri Lanka competed in the 7th Asian Youth Netball Championship held in 2010 in India.[24] As of August 2015, the women's national team was ranked number twenty-four in the world.[38]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Government of Sri Lanka 2001
- 1 2 Ng 2010
- 1 2 Lanka Journal 2009
- 1 2 Lanka Truth 2009
- ↑ International Federation of Netball Associations 2011c
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Netball Singapore 2011b
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Parliament of New South Wales 2004, p. 11179
- ↑ Taylor 1998, p. 6
- ↑ Van Bottenburg 2001, p. 214
- 1 2 DaCosta & Miragaya 2002, p. 66
- ↑ DaCosta & Miragaya 2002, p. 37
- ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics 2007
- ↑ Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2008
- 1 2 Perth Gazette 1934
- ↑
- ↑ Australian Women's Weekly 1977
- 1 2 Australian Women's Weekly 1979
- ↑ Atherly 2006, p. 352
- ↑ Turk
- 1 2 Davis & Davis 2006, p. 4
- ↑ http://www.netball.org/thrilling-world-class-events/current-world-rankings
- ↑ World Youth Netball Championships – Cook Island 2009 2009
- ↑ Samoa Observer 2011
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sagar 2010
- 1 2 3 International Federation of Netball Associations 2008
- ↑ Netball Singapore 2010a
- 1 2 3 Netball Asia 2011
- 1 2 3 DaCosta & Miragaya 2002, p. 88
- ↑ Rahim 2001, p. 36
- ↑ International Netball Federation. "Current World Rankings". Last updated 16 August 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 Netball Singapore 2011
- ↑ DaCosta & Miragaya 2002, p. 198
- ↑ Netball Singapore 2010
- ↑ International Netball Federation. "Current World Rankings". Last updated 16 August 2015.
- 1 2 singaporesports.sg 2010
- ↑ Sivam 2010
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Sri Lanka Netball 2010
- ↑ International Netball Federation. "Current World Rankings". Last updated 16 August 2015.
Bibliography
- International Federation of Netball Associations (15 June 2008). "History of Netball". Retrieved 2 March 2011.
- International Federation of Netball Associations (21 January 2011a). "Current World Rankings". Retrieved 4 March 2011.
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