Netball is just the kind of game I want to see on my world sporting travels. Alas, not yet. The sport can be confusing for those of us with basketball instincts. On the surface, the two games seem similar. Upon closer inspection, however, they are very far apart.
We watched televised women’s netball during this summer’s Commonwealth Games. The sport was developed in 1890 by and for women across the British colonial reach. A consultation with my trusty “Oxford Companion to World Sports & Games” explains that there are seven players per squad.
Players’ uniforms are marked with their position - GS for Goal Scorer, GA for Goal Attack, WD for Wing Defense, and C for Center, for example - and competitors are called “off sides” when they dare venture beyond their strictly enforced positional zones. And there’s a three-seconds rule, too, but it refers to the requirement that players must pass the ball within three seconds of receiving it.
Oh yes, and there’s absolutely no dribbling. Another initial curiosity in watching the sport are all the complicated footwork and positional rules that make it so difficult to put the ball through the hoop, including no jumping while shooting. The lack of a backboard doesn’t help, either. That net looks mighty lonely up there.
So there’s an introduction (and some game action in the video below) as you prepare to watch the European World Cup Qualifiers in October.