Netball in the United States

Netball in the United States
CountryUnited States
Governing bodyUSA Netball
Netball America
National teamUnited States
First played1890s

Netball in the United States dates back to the 1890s. Modern netball evolved from early forms of women's basketball played in the United States. However, despite its early origins, it never took off in the United States. During the 1970s, it was re-introduced to the United States, mainly by Australian, New Zealand, Jamaican and other Caribbean diasporas. Since 2007, netball in the United States has been organised by two rival governing bodies, USA Netball and Netball America. The United States national netball team has competed in international netball competitions such as the World Netball Championships, AFNA Championships and Netball World Cup Qualifiers.

History

Early years

Modern netball evolved from early forms of women's basketball played in the United States. In January 1892, James Naismith published his original rules of basketball. During the later 1890s, two American teachers, Senda Berenson Abbott, a gymnastics teacher at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and Clara Gregory Baer, a physical education teacher at the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College in New Orleans, independently adapted Naismith's rules to make them more suitable for women. By 1895, American visitors and teachers, had helped introduce "women's basketball" to England, where another physical education pioneer, Martina Bergman Österberg and her students amended the rules further and the sport eventually evolved into netball. From England, netball eventually travelled around the Commonwealth of Nations and became a popular women's sport. However, despite its early origins, it never took off in the United States.[1][2][3][4]

Reintroduction

Netball was re-introduced to the United States in the 1970s, starting primarily in the New York City area.[5] It was mainly played by the Australian, New Zealand, Jamaican and other Caribbean diasporas.[3][6][7]

Governing bodies

Since 2007, there have been two rival governing bodies for netball in the United States, USA Netball and Netball America. The two rivals organise separate competitions and national teams.[3][7][8]

USA Netball

USA Netball is the official governing body for netball in the United States. It was founded in 1992 as the United States of America Netball Association. It is affiliated to World Netball and Americas Netball. It is responsible for organising and administering the United States national netball team.[5][8]

Netball America

In 2006 and 2007, USA Netball experienced an exodus of administrators due to allegations and reports of corruption and unethical behaviour. These issues were reported to World Netball. However, according to an Australian Broadcasting Corporation report, they were never acted upon. The majority of USA Netball's affiliated members, clubs and associations subsequently left the organisation and formed a new governing body, Netball America.[8][9]

National teams

Flying Eagles

The United States national netball team, also known as the Flying Eagles, represents USA Netball in international netball competitions. They featured at the 1995, 1999 and 2003 World Netball Championships. Since then, the United States have competed in AFNA Championships and Netball World Cup Qualifiers.[5][10]

Debut Tournament Best result
1995World Netball Championships9th (2003)
2012AFNA Championships3rd (2014)
2007Netball World Cup Qualifiers3rd (2010, 2015)
2016Netball Europe Open Challenge3rd (2013)

The American Netball Team

Netball America also organises a national netball team, which they have branded The American Netball Team and nicknamed The Stars. This team evolved from the Netball America teams that represented the United States at the 2012, 2016 and 2018 World University Netball Championships.[8][11][12] Netball America sent the first team of American citizens to the 2012 tournament.[6] They hosted the 2016 tournament at St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida.[13][14] More recently they have entered teams, including mixed and men's teams in the Dubai Sevens netball tournament.[11][12][15][16] Their 2025 women's team was coached by Jill McIntosh.[17]

Tournaments Place
2012 World University Netball Championship[6][18]8th
2016 World University Netball Championship[13][14][19]8th
2018 World University Netball Championship[20][21][22][23]6th

International tournaments

The United States has hosted the following international tournaments.

Tournament Venue
2005 World Youth Netball Championships[24][25]Fort Lauderdale
2016 World University Netball Championship[13][14][19]St. Thomas University

References

  1. ↑ "All England Netball Association: A History of Netball in England Through the Ages To Present Day" (PDF). www.ournetballhistory.org.uk. June 2002. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  2. ↑ "Netball: The Sport America Invented, Then Lost". www.atlasobscura.com. 5 August 2015. Archived from the original on 7 August 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 "Nothing But Netball: Bringing the Commonwealth Obsession to Chicago". newcity.com. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  4. ↑ "History of Netball". World Netball. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 "History of USA Netball Association". www.usanetball.org. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 "Netball on the Rise in the USA". www.fisu.net. 4 July 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  7. 1 2 "Sister Sport". www.tampabay.com. 11 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Battle within US netball puts the sport's Olympics inclusion for Brisbane 2032 Games at risk". www.abc.net.au. 3 April 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  9. ↑ "Who We Are". www.netballamerica.com. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012.
  10. ↑ "USA Netball – Flying Eagles". www.usanetball.org. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  11. 1 2 "The Official Home of The American Netball Team". www.americannetballteam.com. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  12. 1 2 "Stripes to Stars Pathway". netballamerica.com. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  13. 1 2 3 "The FISU World University Netball Championship Awarded to Miami, Florida" (PDF). netballamerica.com. 31 January 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 October 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  14. 1 2 3 "Netball Championship at STU a success". stubobcats.com. 17 July 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  15. ↑ "The Official Home of The American Netball Team – (Home)". www.americannetballteam.com. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  16. ↑ "The Official Home of The American Netball Team – (Squads)". www.americannetballteam.com. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  17. ↑ "Happy Holidays from Netball America". Netball America. December 2025. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  18. ↑ "Netball World" (PDF). netball.org. 11 November 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  19. 1 2 "Netball Fact Sheet". www.netballamerica.com. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  20. ↑ "USA confirms participation in forthcoming Kampala World University Netball Championship". kawowo.com. 23 March 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  21. ↑ "Day four round-up: USA gets maiden win, Uganda scores another century – 2018 World University Netball Championship". kawowo.com. 20 September 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  22. ↑ "Sri Lanka defeat USA in World University Netball". www.thepapare.com. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  23. ↑ "World University Netball". World Netball. Archived from the original on 8 March 2026. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  24. ↑ "7 Florida girls go for Gold at World Youth Netball Championships". sflcn.com. 19 July 2005. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  25. ↑ "Women Netball V World Youth Cup 2005". www.todor66.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
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