Netball is booming, however you wouldn’t understand it

The superlative G.O.A.T (Best of All Time) is thrown round carelessly. Looks as if each second individual or group suits into the G.O.A.T class. Individuals prefer to argue about who the G.O.A.T is. Don’t get me began on the Michael Jordan versus LeBron James debate.

Australia is fortunate to have many dominant groups that characterize internationally in a wide range of sports activities. Which group is the G.O.A.T although? Which group stands above the remainder?

The women and men’s cricket groups are superb, profitable many trophies within the completely different codecs. The boys’s nationwide hockey group, the Kookaburras, have been a powerhouse for fairly a while profitable three Hockey World Cups, seven Commonwealth Video games titles and an Olympic gold. All might be debated as the very best nationwide group however none of them examine to the success the Diamonds have had and proceed to have.

The Diamonds, the Australian girls’s netball group, have gained 12 World Cups, 4 Commonwealth gold medals, 11 Constellation Cups and are persistently the No.1 netball facet on the planet. So why is it we barely consider the Diamonds for this debate?

Australia’s Stephanie Wooden traces up a shot towards New Zealand. (Picture by Grant Pitcher/Gallo Photographs/Getty Photographs)

Extra importantly, why is it that when I’m trawling by sports activities information, I scarcely see any information of netball exterior of main tournaments? That is both private bias and ignorance or a branding subject impacting media protection.

I’m wondering what number of ‘sports activities fans’ may title the Australian league, or what number of groups play in it, not to mention the group names.

Regardless of restricted media publicity, the sport is Australia’s most attended girls’s sport. Within the 2024 season the sport had a complete attendance of 366,222.

Netball.com.au additionally experiences netball attracted the very best common crowd in Australian girls’s sport, with a median of 6,097 followers attending every match of the Australian League. Mi3 confirms that not solely was the 2024 season essentially the most attended in girls’s sport but additionally had unbelievable viewership.

Netball Australia’s broadcast and streaming rights cope with Foxtel Group has been the primary motive for giant viewership. Final yr Mi3 experiences netball on Kayo Sports activities, Foxtel Now and Foxtel Go now reportedly includes 63 per cent of the full viewership with the grand remaining recording 9 million minutes streamed on the platforms.

What am I lacking right here? Viewership is thru the roof. Attendance is superb, but in all places I look, I can’t appear to seek out the game. The game pales compared to media protection of different sports activities. AFL, cricket, soccer, basketball and the not likely a sport however we declare it’s horse racing all achieve huge media protection.

The place is netball’s share? Netball is sort of a ceremony of passage for college aged youngsters round Australia. It begins by itself with no competitors. It’s estimated that 223,000 youngsters aged 9-14 take part in netball in Australia. This age group the only real focus is netball.

Nonetheless, the 132,000 youths aged 15-17 additionally concerned in netball, play alongside facet the related soccer group. The well-kept oval, geared up with changerooms and kiosk is the main target level of the bottom. How typically can we see netball courts on the again away from spectators and motion?

I’ve been to many nation soccer grounds and the courts are all the time the identical. Restricted services, away from the crowds with restricted place for spectators and the matches on similtaneously the soccer. We inform our youth from a younger age, soccer comes first.

For the report the Suncorp Tremendous Netball competitors has eight groups, and this coming weekend would be the begin of Spherical 3 of the 2025 competitors. Possibly this weekend all of us can put money into our different nationwide sport. The one our daughters, sisters, aunts, or moms have all been part of and the one which has been created to essentially fail.