Netball originated in the 1890s from an attempt to create a form of basketball specifically for women.
Because of the clothing women and girls were required to wear in those days, a number of basketball's activities such as running and dribbling would have been difficult, so the rules were modified to suit.
The first codification of the game was by Clara Baer, a gym teacher, who actually misunderstood a drawing she had showing the areas players should patrol as restricting players to those areas, and so inadvertently introduced one of Netball's distinctive features - the "zoning areas".
Although netball originated in the United States, the game has never enjoyed great popularity there. Instead, it has become popular for women in Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and other Commonwealth countries.
While considered predominantly a women's sport there are also men's teams and some mixed team competitions.
The Rules of Netball
Modern netball has seven players per team each assigned a position that is restricted to a particular area ("zone") of the court. To help the umpires enforce the rules each player wears a "bib" with their position clearly marked on it.
At each end of the court is a goal post with a ring on it. The ring is smaller and higher than that used in basketball, although the ball used in netball is smaller than that used in basketball. Curiously, considering the game's name, modern netball does not feature a net on the ring.
In each end zone there is a semi-circle known as the "goal circle" and shots for goal may only be taken from within this area by specific players (the "goal attack" and the "goal shoot").
Differences From Basketball
The most obvious difference is that dribbling of the ball or bouncing it to oneself is prohibited in netball, and when a player catches the ball they must not run with it and pass it within three seconds.
Players are also not allowed to pass the ball across an entire zone without it being touched.
Netball Recognised as an Olympic Sport
In 1995 netball was officially recognised as an Olympic sport, meaning that it may be included in future Olympics. Netball is already included in the Commonwealth games.
Netball Becomes Professional
In 2008 a competition between teams from Australia and New Zealand called the ANZ Championship enabled players to compete at netball professionally.
The FastNet Variation of the Game
Similar in intention to the sevens variation of rugby or the one-day variation of cricket, fastnet is a netball variation designed to make games faster and more suitable for television.
The duration of the games are shorter, rolling substitutions are allowed, and teams are able to nominate one “power play” quarter in which goals are worth two points each instead of one.
There are also a number of other differences from the standard rules but this variation of the game is still in its infancy and players, fans, and officials are still uncertain about its merits.
