Sport History
Coomera Indoor Sports Netball Centre (CSC) Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre (GCE) Sport History Netball Origins and the sport today: Derived from early versions of basketball, netball began in England in the 1890s. By the start of the 20th century, the first set of rules were published and the game’s popularity began to grow as it was played in many British Commonwealth countries. In 1960, representatives from England, Australia, NZ and South Africa established the International Federation of Women’s Basketball and Netball – now known as the International Netball Federation (INF). However, it wasn’t until 1970 that Australia and New Zealand adopted the name netball, as they previously called it women’s basketball. The first World Netball Championship took place in Eastbourne, England, in 1963 and has been played every four years. The tournament was renamed Netball World Cup in 2015. Netball at the Commonwealth Games: Netball is one of 10 core sports at the Commonwealth Games, meaning it has to be included on the program. The other nine are aquatics (diving and swimming), athletics, badminton, boxing, hockey, lawn bowls, rugby sevens, squash and weightlifting. Netball is a women-only sport and first appeared at the Commonwealth Games at Kuala Lumpur 1998. Australia and New Zealand have dominated the dais, with three gold and two gold respectively. England and Jamaica have won bronze medals, but are still to make a final. With the exception of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games final, won by Australia 58-40, the battle for gold between Australia and New Zealand has generally been a close one.
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