Netball in Europe

Netball is primarily played in Commonwealth countries, which were heavily involved in standardising the rules for netball.[1] The Federation of European Netball Associations (FENA), sometimes referred to as Netball Europe, is the governing body for netball in the Europe netball region. The organisation was created in 1989/1990.[2] As of August 2016, the English women's national team was ranked 3rd in the world, Wales is ranked 8th, Scotland is ranked 10th, Northern Ireland is ranked 12th, Ireland are ranked 25th, Gibraltar are ranked 31st, Malta are ranked 32nd and Switzerland are ranked 34th.[3]

Orkney A (red) v Shetland A (white/blue): intercounty netball (March 2009) in Scotland.

The major netball competition in Europe is the Netball Superleague.[4] The Netball Superleague is the elite netball competition in England and Wales. The league features eight teams from all areas of Britain.[4]

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, netball management has been traditionally run by women.[5] This is different from many other sports for women in the United Kingdom where men have managed women's sport.[5]

England
Main article: Netball in England
The English national team at the England v Australia Netball test: Adelaide, October 2008.

In England, netball has been popular enough to be included as part of the physical education curriculum.[6] Its inclusion had been at times controversial; during the 1910s and 1920s, schools worried about the potential negative impact of physical exercise like netball participation on the health of girls.[7]

Wales

The Welsh Netball Association (Cymdeithas Pêl Rwyd Cymru) was created in 1945.[8] The WNA is responsible for national championships, Welsh squad selection, international matches, the training and development of players, coaches, and umpires and for the Sport Wales National Centre Netball Academy, Cardiff.[9] The Welsh Netball Association is based in Pontcanna, Cardiff.[9] Similar to other national associations, the Welsh have created a modified version of the game for children called "Dragon Netball".[8] It is geared for seven- to eleven-year-olds.[8] Male participation in netball in Wales has been increasing in the past several years.[8]

Northern Ireland

The rate of comparative participation for netball to other sports differs from key-stage to key-stage (year levels in school) in Northern Ireland.[10] For girls, netball is the third most popular participation sport in key-stage 2 with a 7% participation rate.[10] For key-stage 3 and key-stage 4, it is the most popular girls participation sport with rates of 20.2% and 14.0% respectively.[10] In the sixth form, netball is the fifth most popular girls' participation sport with a rate of 6.7%.[10] The total number of school participants is about 900.[11] In Northern Ireland, about 1,300 women play competitive netball in club based leagues.[11]

Switzerland

Relatively new to netball, a group of volunteers formed the Netball Switzerland governing body in 2008. They are highly passionate group and have had a formal under 17 team since 2010. With netball teams and matches held regularly in Geneva, Basel and Zurich.[11]

References
  1. International Federation of Netball Associations 2008
  2. England Netball 2010
  3. International Netball Federation. "Current World Rankings". Last updated 20 August 2016.
  4. FIAT Netball Superleague
  5. White 2002, p. 46
  6. White 2002, p. 37
  7. Western Argus 1922
  8. International Federation of Netball Associations 2011
  9. Welsh Netball Association 2009
  10. Mahoney 1997, p. 109
  11. Mahoney 1997, p. 103

Bibliography
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