11/05/24
July 18, 2005
Netball Under 21 World Cup is: in Florida this month! Last Friday I went to the farewell ceremony for the Samoa team (ranked 4th in the World). According to this site, interest in netball is now at 'fever pitch' in the USA. Is this tournament really registering on the sports psyche of America?
I've at least heard of ultimate. Netball? huh? Wikipedia, of course, saves the day.
posted by tieguy at 09:41 PM on July 18, 2005
Thanks tieguy. As you link says, netball is the most popular female sport in countries of the Commonwealth, and one in which small nations like Jamaica and Samoa rate very highly. And I notice that the USA is ranked 9 in the world for all-ages. But where is it played, and how popular is it in the US? Does anyone know?
posted by owlhouse at 10:20 PM on July 18, 2005
owlhouse: I wasn't joking when I said I'd never heard of it*, and I follow sports of all types (including women's sports) as obsessively as anyone I know. So that is probably not a good sign for netball in the states. * I was joking about ultimate; I was briefly on the club team at Duke and my SO was on the women's club team for several years.
posted by tieguy at 10:40 PM on July 18, 2005
I always had assumed that netball was just another name for handball. I guess not. I've never seen netball played anywhere and never even know such a game existed.
posted by gyc at 12:20 AM on July 19, 2005
I'd heard of it, thanks to an early interest in sports trivia. I had no idea it had any popularity in the US, though.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 07:27 AM on July 19, 2005
From the official site.... "While Netball is not a household name in the United States, it is the most popular female team sport in the world, predominantly in Australia, Asia, Africa, the United Kingdom and the Caribbean. International Netball is a women’s sport that has returned to its’ home the United States (where it originated) with increasing popularity amongst men. Teams play all down the Eastern Seaboard and across to Texas and California, and there are known players and clubs in 35 of the 50 states." Welcome home netball.
posted by ajsrest at 08:39 AM on July 19, 2005
Yuck, sounds like Basketball crossed with Ultimate, and then wimped even further down until it sounds like a total hippy "teach the world to sing" no contact bore fest.
posted by LostInDaJungle at 03:24 PM on July 21, 2005
Don't look at me. I play competitive Ultimate.