Netball

Where can I find information about netball?

Senior Primary

(Years 5-8)

Colour photo of girls playing netball. 2 players from different teams are trying to catch a ball in the air.

Image: [photo] by Partick Case on Pexels.

Entry last updated: 26/05/22

Introduction

Netball was adapted from an early version of basketball in the 1890s in the United States. Today it is a popular sport for girls and women in New Zealand and many of the Commonwealth countries around the world. The Silver Ferns, New Zealand's national women's netball team have won many world championships and gold medals at the Commonwealth Games.

History and rules

These websites will help you find information about the history of netball and how to play the game.

International Netball Federation (INF)

INF is the only internationally recognised organisation for Netball around the world. They are responsible for organising different international netball championships, the rules of the game, and any changes to it.

  • Hover over Game at the top of the page to bring up a menu.

  • Select History of netball to find out where and when this game began, and how it spread throughout the world.

  • Select The rules of netball to find up-to-date rules of the game.

  • Further down this page are rules for Fast5 Netball, for the 5-a-side format of the sport.

  • Hover over Events at the top of the page to find out about Current World Rankings.

  • Also find out about competitions like the Netball World Cup, and netball at the Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games.

Tips: Some websites have .sport in their url. This is a new url ending that is given to sports organisations including those responsible for different sports around the world. You can check the Inside INF link on the website for more information.

RulesofSport.com

A simple to understand website that has the basic rules for various sports like badminton, football, cricket and netball.

  • Look down to find the Netball link.

  • Read about rules, scoring, players and more.

Tips: You may see a message about cookies on this website. Cookies are a kind of data collector that is used by some websites to collect information about their users.

Netball World Cup Liverpool 2019

This is the official site for the 2019 Netball World Cup. It has information about the latest news coverage, teams that took part, and matches that were played.

  • Select Latest News to find out about what happened during the 2019 Netball World Cup.

  • Select Teams and then a country to find out about that team eg New Zealand.

Tips: Some websites have .au, .nz, .uk or other codes in their url. This can tell you which country this website comes from eg .au is from Australia or .nz is from New Zealand. You can check the About Us link on the website for more information.

Netball in New Zealand

Netball is a very popular sport in New Zealand. The following websites will help you find information about the history and famous players of Netball in New Zealand.

Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Te Ara is an excellent starting point for all questions about New Zealand Aotearoa. If we scroll down to the bottom of the page we can see that the website belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so the information is well-researched and reliable.

  • Go to the tab called Stories A-Z, then scroll down to N, to find Netball.

  • Go to Origins of netball to read about the history of netball and how it came to New Zealand.

  • Go to page 8 for a list of New Zealand netball stars like Lois Muir, Irene van Dyk and Waimarama Taumaunu.

  • Explore the other links to read about the domestic and international competitions played by New Zealand netball teams, and why this game is so popular in our country.

Tips: We like sites that are from government or other reputable organisations, because we can trust the information. You can sometimes tell these sites by their web address – they might have .govt or .edu in their address – or by looking at their About us or Contact pages.

Netball New Zealand

This is the official website of Netball New Zealand and has lots of up-to-date information, pictures and videos of the game.

  • Go to News from the banner at the top for the latest on Netball.

  • Our Game takes you through the history of netball in New Zealand, Our Netball Heroes, Awards, Rules and events like Netball Oceania.

  • Choose Competitions & Events to read up on Domestic Events (in New Zealand), Major Events and the ANZ Premiership that New Zealand netball teams are involved in.

  • At the top of the page are links to Zones eg Netball Northern. Choose one to lead you to planned netball events and news updates in these regions of New Zealand.

Tips: Websites that have .com or .co in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About us link on the website, if you can find one. That can tell you what the company’s mission and values are.

Silver Ferns

The history of the Silver Ferns, New Zealand's national netball team dates back to 1938. Their website contains news updates, history and names of the current team players.

  • Go to Team, then Silver Ferns Squad for biographies of each of the team members.

  • Fixtures & Results will take you to The Constellation Cup played between New Zealand and Australia over the years, and a digital history of every Test Match the Silver Ferns have played since 1938.

  • The tab History is about the history of players, captains, coaches, Centurions (players who have played 100 test matches) , and netball players whose names have been included in the New Zealand Sports Hall of fame.

  • News is about updates and interesting additions like Silver Ferns TV, social network details and a photo gallery of famous Silver Fern moments through time.

Tips: Many web pages have links to further information or to other recommended sites. Following these links is a great way to find out more. This searching method is called “pearl growing” because you are picking up pieces of sand to make a beautiful pearl!

TVNZ Sport

This link from 1 News, will lead you to rugby, cricket, football, netball, basketball and golf news from New Zealand and around the world.

  • Select Netball from the bar at the top.

  • You will see the latest news, articles and videos about netball in New Zealand.

Tips: It’s worth checking out what the other major news sites have on a topic too: CNN (American), PBS News (American), ABC News (Australian) and our own Television New Zealand. They will all have links to world news.

Books

Your public library or school library is the best place to look for books about netball and famous netball players. You can start with having a look at the titles listed below.

SCIS no: 1987143

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