Netball in the Americas
Encyclopedia
The IFNA's Americas region includes North America
, South America
, Central America
and the Caribbean
. The region covers 54 nations, of which 13 have national governing bodies. Each year, the region hosts two tournaments: the CNA U16 Championship and the AFNA Senior Championship. Netball is most popular in Commonwealth countries, such as Antigua and Barbuda
and Grenada
. As of January 2011, several teams in the region ranked amongst the top 25 in the world, including Jamaica (4th), Barbados (10th), Saint Lucia (13th), Saintt Vincent and the Grenadines (20th) and Canada (22nd).
The United States of America Netball Association
was created on 23 May 1992 in New York City
. IFNA quickly recognised the organisation. As of 2010, the national organisation has affiliates in California
, Connecticut
, Florida
, Georgia
, Hawaii
, Massachusetts
, Maryland
, New Jersey
, New York
, Pennsylvania
, Texas
, the District of Columbia, Tennessee
, Nevada
, Washington, Arizona
and Virginia
. In 1992, the United States of America Netball Association organised the first national championship to be held in the country. The Americans played their first international games at the Netball World Championship in Birmingham, England in 1995, where they won their pool but ultimately finished 14th in the competition. By 2003, the country was ranked 9th in the world. The United States also hosted the 2005 World Youth Championships. But as of January 2011, the country was unranked as its national team had not played enough test matches. The team has suffered because it has to rely on immigration in order to get quality players.
, where the game was played by 1909. At the time, most of the players were at schools and teachers' training colleges. As the players got older, they expanded the game by creating club sides for casual play. Players were familiar with the English rules as the official Ling Association rule book was sold in the country.
During the 1930s, the major competition was the ISSA Cup. Seven teams competed, including Wolmer's Old Girls Association (W.O.G.A.), St. Andrew, St. Hugh's, Excelsior, Shortwood, and Lincoln. W.O.G.A. built the first hard court to play netball on in Jamaica. Netball is still played at schools in Jamaica. The Queens School won Jamaica’s ISSA/Digicel All-Island High Schoolgirls Junior title in 2008, 2009 and 2010. The 2010 title came after the school beat Holmwood Technical 33–20 in the final. Denbigh School won Jamaica’s ISSA/Digicel All-Island High Schoolgirls Senior title in 2010 for the first time. They played St Hugh’s in the final, winning 24–21.
Pancho Rankine, Margaret Beckford and Margarietta St. Juste created the Jamaica Netball Association in 1959. That same year, the organisation became affiliated to the West Indies Netball Board in 1959. They were subsequently invited to have a national team compete in the West Indies Tournament that was held in Montserrat in August 1959. The creation of the Jamaica Netball Association helped spur the growth of club teams and competitions being held at school, church, community, business, club, parish, and national levels. The organisation's founding also helped increase spectatorship.
In 1960, a member of the All England Netball Association went to Jamaica to coach, lecture and test umpires. Two years later, an English team toured the West Indies, beating Jamaica, Trinidad and the West Indies. In 1967, a team representing Greater London toured Jamaica, winning all their matches on the tour. In 1970, a team of British Students toured the Bahamas and Jamaica. Later that year, Jamaica's national team toured England. The third World Tournament was held in Kingston, Jamaica in 1971. Teams that competed at the event included Jamaica, England and New Zealand. England's record against Jamaica in international matches between 1949 and 1976 was nine wins and zero losses. In 1972, an England Under 21 team toured Jamaica and beat the Jamaican Under 21 team every time they competed. Jamaica's national association was involved in the protests against apartheid policies that discriminated against black South Africans. As a result of the English tour of South Africa in 1973, Jamaica banned players who participated from competing in netball matches held in Jamaica. As of January 2011, the women's national team was ranked number four in the world.
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
and the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. The region covers 54 nations, of which 13 have national governing bodies. Each year, the region hosts two tournaments: the CNA U16 Championship and the AFNA Senior Championship. Netball is most popular in Commonwealth countries, such as Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda is a twin-island nation lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major inhabited islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and a number of smaller islands...
and Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
. As of January 2011, several teams in the region ranked amongst the top 25 in the world, including Jamaica (4th), Barbados (10th), Saint Lucia (13th), Saintt Vincent and the Grenadines (20th) and Canada (22nd).
Canada
Canada has both men's and women's national teams. One of the top performances of the Canadian women's team was at the 2nd World Youth Netball Championship when they came in third.United States
Netball began to take off in the United States during the 1970s. The game experienced most of its early growth in the New York area. Local netball associations, including Bronx Netball, Florida Netball Association, American Netball Association of New York State, Texas Netball Association, and Massachusetts State Netball League, were created to help develop and organise the game on a local level during the 1970s and 1980s.The United States of America Netball Association
United States of America Netball Association
United States of America Netball Association is the national body which oversees, promotes and manages netball in the United States. It was created in 2001 in New York City. It has affiliates in California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York,...
was created on 23 May 1992 in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. IFNA quickly recognised the organisation. As of 2010, the national organisation has affiliates in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, the District of Columbia, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, Washington, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
and Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. In 1992, the United States of America Netball Association organised the first national championship to be held in the country. The Americans played their first international games at the Netball World Championship in Birmingham, England in 1995, where they won their pool but ultimately finished 14th in the competition. By 2003, the country was ranked 9th in the world. The United States also hosted the 2005 World Youth Championships. But as of January 2011, the country was unranked as its national team had not played enough test matches. The team has suffered because it has to rely on immigration in order to get quality players.
Jamaica
Netball is the favourite women's sport in JamaicaJamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, where the game was played by 1909. At the time, most of the players were at schools and teachers' training colleges. As the players got older, they expanded the game by creating club sides for casual play. Players were familiar with the English rules as the official Ling Association rule book was sold in the country.
During the 1930s, the major competition was the ISSA Cup. Seven teams competed, including Wolmer's Old Girls Association (W.O.G.A.), St. Andrew, St. Hugh's, Excelsior, Shortwood, and Lincoln. W.O.G.A. built the first hard court to play netball on in Jamaica. Netball is still played at schools in Jamaica. The Queens School won Jamaica’s ISSA/Digicel All-Island High Schoolgirls Junior title in 2008, 2009 and 2010. The 2010 title came after the school beat Holmwood Technical 33–20 in the final. Denbigh School won Jamaica’s ISSA/Digicel All-Island High Schoolgirls Senior title in 2010 for the first time. They played St Hugh’s in the final, winning 24–21.
Pancho Rankine, Margaret Beckford and Margarietta St. Juste created the Jamaica Netball Association in 1959. That same year, the organisation became affiliated to the West Indies Netball Board in 1959. They were subsequently invited to have a national team compete in the West Indies Tournament that was held in Montserrat in August 1959. The creation of the Jamaica Netball Association helped spur the growth of club teams and competitions being held at school, church, community, business, club, parish, and national levels. The organisation's founding also helped increase spectatorship.
In 1960, a member of the All England Netball Association went to Jamaica to coach, lecture and test umpires. Two years later, an English team toured the West Indies, beating Jamaica, Trinidad and the West Indies. In 1967, a team representing Greater London toured Jamaica, winning all their matches on the tour. In 1970, a team of British Students toured the Bahamas and Jamaica. Later that year, Jamaica's national team toured England. The third World Tournament was held in Kingston, Jamaica in 1971. Teams that competed at the event included Jamaica, England and New Zealand. England's record against Jamaica in international matches between 1949 and 1976 was nine wins and zero losses. In 1972, an England Under 21 team toured Jamaica and beat the Jamaican Under 21 team every time they competed. Jamaica's national association was involved in the protests against apartheid policies that discriminated against black South Africans. As a result of the English tour of South Africa in 1973, Jamaica banned players who participated from competing in netball matches held in Jamaica. As of January 2011, the women's national team was ranked number four in the world.