page_title: Netball
section_title: Gender
hierarchical_section_title: Netball / History / Gender
caption_attribution_description: Local evening mixed-gender netball game in 2009 at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.
context_page_description: Netball is a ball sport played by two teams of seven players. Netball is most popular in many Commonwealth nations, specifically in schools, and is predominantly played by women. According to the INF, netball is played by more than 20 million people in more than 80 countries. Major domestic leagues in the sport include the Netball Superleague in Great Britain, Suncorp Super Netball in Australia and the ANZ Premiership in New Zealand. Four major competitions take place internationally: the quadrennial World Netball Championships, the Commonwealth Games, and the yearly Quad Series and Fast5 Series. In 1995, netball became an International Olympic Committee recognised sport, but it has not been played at the Olympics.
  Games are played on a rectangular court with raised goal rings at each end. Each team attempts to score goals by passing a ball down the court and shooting it through its goal ring. Players are assigned specific positions, which define their roles within the team and restrict their movement to certain areas of the court. During general play, a player with the ball can hold on to it for only three seconds before shooting for a goal or passing to another player.
context_section_description: As of 2006, the IFNA recognises only women's netball. Men's netball teams exist in some areas but attract less attention from sponsors and spectators. Men's netball started to become popular in Australia during the 1980s, and the first men's championship was held in 1985. In 2004, New Zealand and Fiji sent teams to compete in the Australian Mixed and Men's National Championships. By 2006, mixed netball teams in Australia had as many male participants as rugby union. Other countries with men's national teams include Canada, Fiji, Jamaica, Kenya, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates. Unlike women's netball at elite and national levels, men's and mixed gender teams are largely self-funded.
  An all-transgender netball team from Indonesia competed at the 1994 Gay Games in New York City.  The team had been the Indonesian national champions.  At the 2000 Gay Games VI in Sydney, netball and volleyball were the two sports with the highest rates of transgender athletes participating.  There were eight teams of indigenous players, with seven identifying as transgender.  They came from places like Palm Island in northern Queensland, Samoa, Tonga and Papua New Guinea.  Teams with transgender players were allowed to participate in several divisions including men's, mixed and transgender; they were not allowed to compete against the cisgender women's teams.
caption: Men and women play together during a mixed netball game in Australia.
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