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. NZ won a thriller at Delhi 2010 by just two goals (66-64) following double overtime, with the same winning margin for Australia (57-55) at Manchester 2002. At Kuala Lumpur 1998, Australia edged NZ 42-39. Netball in Australia: Australia has dominated netball on the international stage and it is the country’s most popular women’s team- participation sport. Known as the Diamonds, the national team has won 11 of 14 world championships. In 1979 they shared the crown with NZ and Trinidad and Tobago, with the round-robin format having no finals. The trans-Tasman rivalry with New Zealand is particularly fierce, because both countries have been so far ahead of other playing nations in terms of ability. The double overtime match-up in the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games final is the longest in netball history and they also compete for the annual Constellation Cup. In 2008, the semi-professional ANZ Championship began. It involved five sides each from Australia and NZ and ran for nine seasons. An eight-team professional league to replace the ANZ Championship started in Australia in 2017. The most capped Australian, with 122 international appearances, is Liz ELLIS, who has moved into TV commentary. ELLIS won two gold and one silver at the Commonwealth Games, along with three world championship gold. Sharelle McMAHON also enjoyed a glittering career and was the youngest member of the side that won Commonwealth Games gold in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur. She was also the flagbearer at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games. The current Diamonds coach is Lisa ALEXANDER, who took the role from Norma PLUMMER in 2011. .