Indoor netball

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Indoor netball
Highest governing body World Indoor Netball Association
Characteristics
Contact Non-contact
Team Members Six or seven players per team on court at once each team
Category Indoor
Ball Netball

Indoor netball is an indoor version of netball. Instead of sidelines, an indoor netball court is surrounded by a net, thus the ball is continuously in play.

Indoor netball is fast becoming one of the more popular sports in Australia. It follows the similar rules of traditional netball, but is faster and is more focused on mixed gender matches, not just females. Indoor netball is relatively new to the Australian sporting landscape in that the national body was formed in 1990, however the sport continues to grow more and more each year.

The Association boasts a fast competitive game where players male and female of all ages can show their skills in the game of indoor netball. Indoor netball, as the name suggests, bares several similarities to the traditional outdoor sport but the two sports also differ significantly. The main difference is that in indoor netball the ball is always in play, there are no sidelines; instead they are replaced by nets. This makes indoor netball a much faster, exciting and dynamic sport enjoyed by both men and women, and is enjoyed both socially and competitively in indoor centres across Australia, as well as in a selection of other countries across the globe.

Indoor netball from its inception has grown not only internally but is now being recognised world wide.

Internationally Australia and New Zealand have contested the Trans Tasman Shield on a number of occasions. In 1999 Australia travelled to England for an International Series with Open Ladies, Open Mixed and Open Men.

Following this series, South Africa joined the World Indoor Netball Association, plans were then put in place for the 2001 Indoor Netball World Cup in Australia.

Australia hosted the World Cup in June on the Gold Coast in Queensland, where all four countries played the inaugural World Cup Series.

In June 2002 Australia and England travelled to South Africa for the World Indoor Netball Association (W.I.N.A.) Tri-Series. Again Open Ladies, Open Mixed and Open Men were contested at this tournament.

In 2003 New Zealand hosted the World Cup in Auckland with Australia, New Zealand and South Africa participating at this prestigious event. This was the first time that 21 & Under Ladies was contested at a World Cup level, given the excellent response this grade has now been added to all future Open events.

At the 2003 World Cup in New Zealand it was announced that the World Indoor Netball Association were introducing over 30 Ladies, over 30 Mixed plus 18 & Under to their Calendar of tournaments. In February, 2004 Selected Masters & 18's Australian teams travelled to South Africa - the tour was a huge success and set the foundations for bi-annual tours to continue, with the next International series being held in 2006.

In Australia there are two national championships held annually, the Open National Championships and the Aged National Championships. The Open’s host 4 divisions: Men's, Ladies, Mixed and Under 21 Ladies, whilst the Aged Nationals have 3 divisions: Over 30 Ladies, Over 30 Mixed and the Under 18 Ladies. From these tournaments the respective All Star teams are chosen as a reflection of the best players Australia has to offer in each division.

In 2007 a squad of netball players was selected by the INA to represent England at the Tri-Nations Cup, which was in November 2007 in South Africa. Teams were entered in the U-19, Open Ladies, and Open Mixed Categories. Australia proved their strength and won at all three levels of the tournament.

The Indoor Netball Association will be selecting 4 teams to represent England at the 2008 Indoor Netball World Cup in Brisbane, Australia from 1 – 7 June 2008. The teams selected will be in the Open Men’s, Open Ladies, Open Mixed, and U-21 Girls categories.


[edit] External links

National Bodies

Australian State Bodies

Operating Centres


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