Netball is the most popular women's sport in New Zealand, in terms of player participation and public interest. With the national team, the Silver Ferns, currently ranked second in the world, netball maintains a high profile in New Zealand. As in other netball-playing countries, netball is considered primarily a women's sport; men's and mixed teams exist at different levels, but are ancillary to women's competition.
Netball sculpture at Invercargill Airport, Southland.
A netball game at an unidentified school, ca. 1910
New Zealand Herald's netball team from the late 1920s
Junior netball competition in Wellington.
Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own goal ring. It is one of a few sports created exclusively for women and girls and remains primarily played by them, on indoor and outdoor courts, especially in schools and most popularly in the Commonwealth of Nations.
Malawi (red) playing Fiji (blue) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
Women in England playing netball on a grass court, 1910
A goal is scored at a women's netball game in New Zealand, circa 1920s.
Men and women play together during a mixed netball game in Australia.