Netball

For Netball players and fans, discover more about this amazing sport.

Netball is a ball sport played by two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England, international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball later renamed the International Netball Federation was formed. As of 2011, the INF comprises more than 60 national teams organized into five global regions.

Games are played on a rectangular court with raised goal rings at each end. Each team attempts to score goals by passing a ball down the court and shooting it through its goal ring. Players are assigned specific positions, which define their roles within the team and restrict their movement to certain areas of the court. During general play, a player with the ball can hold on to it for only three seconds before shooting for a goal or passing to another player. The winning team is the one that scores the most goals. Netball games are 60 minutes long. Variations have been developed to increase the game's pace and appeal to a wider audience.

Netball is most popular in Commonwealth nations, specifically in schools, and is predominantly played by women.

According to the International Netball Federation, netball is played by more than 20 million people in more than 80 countries.

Major domestic leagues in the sport include the Netball Superleague in Great Britain, Suncorp Super Netball in Australia and the Premiership in New Zealand. Four major competitions take place internationally the quadrennial World Netball Championships, the Commonwealth Games, and the yearly Quad Series and Fast5 Series. In 1995, netball became an International Olympic Committee recognised sport, but it has not been played at the Olympics.

The following is an overview of the rules of the game of netball as outlined in the Official Netball Rules, published by the International Federation of Netball Associations .

It's not possible to include all the rules of the game in this section. There are so many that every netball player learns a new rule every once in a while, no matter how long they've been playing! The aim is to provide you with a basic understanding of the rules to be able to play the game safely and enjoyably.

Please use this section as a reference to answer any questions you may have about umpiring decisions.

Substitutions can only be made at half time or when a player is injured.

There is no limit to the number of substitutions that a team can make.

If you start a match with 5 or 6 players but more members of your team arrive after the game has started, they must wait until the next centre pass before being allowed to join the game.

The first centre pass is decided between the two captains by the toss of a coin. The centre passes then alternate between the teams, regardless of which team has scored.

Before the whistle, all players must start in the goal thirds except the two Centres.

The Centre with the ball must be wholly within the Centre Circle and must obey the footwork rule after the whistle has been blown.

The opposing Centre stands anywhere within the Centre Third and is free to move.

After the whistle the Centre pass must be caught or touched by a player standing in or landing wholly within the Centre third.

A player must not break at the centre pass, which is moving into the Centre third before the whistle is blown for the Centre pass.

A free pass would be awarded to the opposing team in any of these instances above.

Players must get onside quickly at the centre pass. The Centre with the ball must hurry back to the centre circle and step straight in. If she waits for her players to get back onside, this is called delaying play.

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