All You Need to Know About Netball

You might be a seasoned pro, or maybe you’re new to the sport, either way, this four-minute read will tell you everything you need to know about netball.

We’ll cover the netball court, positions and whether netball is a sport that features in the Summer Olympics. We’ll also look at the three biggest leagues in the world the Suncorp Superleague, the ANZ League and the Vitality Netball Super League.

So sit back, kick off your trainers for a while and read on to find out all you need to know about netball, the sport played by over 850,000 people in the UK every week.

The Netball Court

Let’s talk about the netball court. It’s split into three equal sections, a centre third and two goal thirds, as shown in the image, with two semi-circles at either end. The court is 30.5m long and 15.25m wide.

The longer sides are called the sidelines and the shorter sides are the goal lines or back lines.

Netball Positions

There are seven positions in a netball team meaning 14 players are allowed on the court at any one time. The netball positions are as follows:

GK – Goal Keeper – can go in the end third and the semi-circle in the defensive direction

GD – Goal Defence – can go in the centre third, the end third and the semi-circle in the defensive direction

WD – Wing Defence – can go in the centre third and the end third

C – Centre – can go in all three thirds but not the semi-circles

WA – Wing Attack – can go in the centre third and the end third

GA – Goal Attack – can go in the centre third, the end third and the semi-circle in the attacking direction

GS – Goal Shooter – can go in the end third and the semi-circle in the attacking direction

If a player goes off-side (out of their permitted zone) the ball gets passed to the opposing team, even a toe touching the line is classed as offside so you’ve got to keep an eye on those feet and be aware of the space around you!

Want your child to start playing netball? Why not contact us to find out more about elite netball academy netball camps and classes

Netball and the Olympics

Unfortunately, Netball is not yet an Olympic sport. Brisbane has won the bid to host the 2032 Olympics and there has been noise within the sport that the organising committee is pushing for netball to be their featured sport – so watch this space! We might get see to netball on the biggest sporting stage in the world!

Netball is in the Commonwealth Games and there is a World Cup competition too. These take place every four years. England goes into the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham as defending champions and we cannot wait to watch the action unfold!

You can register for tickets to watch the England Roses play in the Commonwealth games here.

Suncorp Super Netball

Considered by many the biggest netball league in the world, the Suncorp Super Netball League has been the main league in Australia since 2017. Eight teams form the league and it attracts some of the biggest names in the sport. There are around 80 professional athletes playing in the league and it is ever-evolving. The competition introduced a Bonus Points scheme in 2018 where incentives are given out for quarter-by-quarter wins.

Vitality Netball Super League

Founded in 2005, 11 teams from England, Scotland and Wales now line up in the Vitality Netball Super League – the UK’s top-level elite netball competition attracting international superstars from all over the world. The league has gone from strength to strength and there have been six different champions in the first 15 seasons. The 2021 champions were Loughborough Lightning led by Elite Netball Academy Ambassador Natalie Panagarry.

Picture left: shows the Loughborough Lightning team led by Natalie Panagarry. Image courtesy of Morgan Harlow.

read Natalie’s summary of the 2021 Vitality Netball SUPER LEAGUE final here

ANZ Netball

The ANZ Netball Premiership features six teams based in New Zealand. Fans have become used to watching impressive speed, skill and fierce rivalries in this league. As with the Suncorp Super Netball League, the ANZ attracts some of the world’s best netball players. And in 2022 the ANZ premiership will be celebrating 25 years of elite netball!

And there you have it! All you need to know about netball as a sport. There is obviously a lot of ground we haven’t covered in this blog including netball rules and regulations, so if you’re keen to learn more about the sport, or want your child to join one of our classes or camps, please contact us to find out more or click the button below to find out when our netball camps are happening.

view our netball class and camp calendar

Until next time, hit the court strongly and with a smile, Anna and the team xx