P.E: The History of Netball

Hi there! Today I will be writing about the history of Netball as a task for P.E. while I am at home.

Netball originated in England in 1895 and was first played at Madame Ostenberg's College in Kent. It had a nine-a-side version and a five-a-side version when the game was first played. In the first half of the 20th century, the popularity of Netball began to grow.  Commonwealth countries such as New Zealand and Australia are just two of many who took the sport up. 

Some legends in Netball are: 

• Laura Langman
• Leana de Bruin
• Geva Mentor
• Jhaniele Fowler
• Caitlin Bassett
• Irene van Dyk
• Maria Folau
  

Laura Langman is a New Zealand Netball player who also plays for the Australian Netball league too. She plays the tiring position of centre in the game. She is famous for her amazing stamina in a game, this dates all the way back to to 2005. She is considered one of the fittest Silver Ferns and is the second most capped Netball player in New Zealand's history.

Leana de Bruin is a former South African born Netball player but played out the majority of her career in New Zealand. She played the crucial defense positions of goal keeper and goal defense for over 17 years. She played for New Zealand over 100 times and has played in Netball World Cups from 2003 to 2015. She has also gone to 3 Commonwealth Games and won 2 gold medals at these events as well as a silver medal.

Geva Mentor is a British Netball player standing at over 1.9 metres tall. She is a defender, playing wing defense, goal defense and goal keeper. She has been playing Netball since 2001 and is still playing. She has played for England 146 times and has so far participated in 3 Commonwealth Games, gaining one gold medal and 2 silver ones.

Jhaniele Fowler is a Jamaican born Netball player but has played in the Australian Netball league as well. She clocks in at a jaw-dropping height of 1.98 metres tall, the world's third tallest Netball player in the world. She played for New Zealand for a short period of time and has played for Jamaica 46 times since debuting in 2010. She plays the all important position of goal shooter.

Caitlin Bassett is an Australian Netball player in the top 5 tallest netball players in the world, being 1.96 metres tall. She started her career in 2005 and is still playing for the Australian Diamonds in her position of goal shooter. At the 2011 Netball World Cup she only missed 4 goals throughout the whole tournament (151/155).

Irene van Dyk is a South African born player but played the majority of her career in New Zealand. She is considered the best player of all time, playing goal shooter and goal attack. Her phenomenal accuracy almost never dropped below 90%. She started her career in 1994 in South Africa playing 72 games for the South African team, she stopped playing for South Africa in 1999. The next year she moved to New Zealand and played the rest of her year career here, retiring from netball fully in 2016. She is the most capped international player in the world with 217 games played all together and has gone to 5 Netball World Cups and 4 Commonwealth Games, one of which she was the flag bearer. 

Maria Folau is a Netball player from New Zealand with an unbelievable skill in the shooting circle. She played the positions of goal shooter and goal attack. Her Silver Ferns debut was in 2005 and retired in 2019. She can shoot from anywhere in the shooting circle, which made her a dangerous opponent. She has gone to 4 Netball World Cups and 4 Commonwealth Games, in 2019 winning a World Netball Champion title with the Silver Ferns.

Netball is played professionally in many countries but is also played as a grassroots sport for children or those who aren't in the pro leagues. Netball is played with 7 seven players on each team. Positions played are goal keeper, goal defense, wing defense, centre, wing attack, goal attack and goal shooter. To play a game of Netball you need bibs with all positions for both teams, two umpires (referees), a netball, scorekeepers, a timekeeper, netball court and suitable playing equipment for players.

Netball has evolved a lot since it's discovery over 100 years ago. Netball was played in long, heavy dresses previously and is now played in light, sweat-wicking, shorter dresses. Baskets were used as hoops, there were no boundaries, no lines or circles back then. Netball was also played on grass courts all those many years ago.

Netball has evolved much over the decades, I think it will continue to do so for many more.

Thanks for reading!