Netball's early development emerged from
Clara Baer's misinterpretation of the early rules of
James Naismith's new sport of
basketball, and eventually evolved into its own sport. Basketball, invented in 1891, was initially played indoors between two teams of nine players, using an
association football that was thrown into closed-end peach baskets. Naismith's game spread quickly across the United States and variations of the rules soon emerged. At the same time,
physical education instructor
Senda Berenson developed modified rules for women in 1892. Berenson's rules eventually gave rise to
women's basketball, and separate intercollegiate rules for basketball for men and women developed around the same time.
Clara Baer was a sports teacher living in
New Orleans when she wrote to Naismith asking for a copy of the rules for his game of basketball. Once she received them, they included a diagram of the court with lines across it which were meant to show the areas various players could best patrol. She misinterpreted the lines and believed they marked out restricted areas of play which players could not leave. Her mistake marks the beginning of netball. Baer's version for the rules of women's basketball defined these areas as restricted zones, an error which then became ratified into the rules for women's basketball in 1899 and proliferated. playing netball on a grass court, 1910
Martina Bergman-Österberg introduced a version of basketball in 1893 to her female students at the Physical Training College in
Hampstead, London. The rules of the game were modified at the college over several years: the game moved outdoors and was played on grass; the baskets were replaced by rings that had nets; and in 1897 and 1899, rules from women's basketball in the United States were incorporated. Österberg's new sport acquired the name "net ball". The first codified rules of netball were published in 1901 by the Ling Association, later the Physical Education Association of the United Kingdom. From England, netball spread to other countries in the
British Empire. Variations of the rules and even names for the sport arose in different areas: "women's (outdoor) basketball" arrived in
Australia around 1900 and in
New Zealand from 1906, while "netball" was being played in Jamaican schools by 1909. , circa 1920s. From the start, it was considered socially appropriate for women to play netball; netball's restricted movement appealed to contemporary notions of women's participation in sports, and the sport was distinct from potential rival male sports. Netball became a popular
women's sport in countries where it was introduced and spread rapidly through school systems. School leagues and domestic competitions emerged during the first half of the 20th century, and in 1924 the first national governing body was established in New Zealand. Representatives from England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the West Indies were part of a 1960 meeting in Sri Lanka that standardised the rules for the game. The game spread to other African countries in the 1970s. South Africa was prohibited from competing internationally from 1969 to 1994 due to
apartheid. In the United States, Netball's popularity also increased during the 1970s, particularly in the New York area, and the
United States of America Netball Association was created in 1992. The game also became popular in the Pacific Island nations of the Cook Islands, Fiji and Samoa during the 1970s.
Netball Singapore was created in 1962, and the
Malaysian Netball Association was created in 1978. In Australia, the term ''women's basketball
was used to refer to both netball and basketball. During the 1950s and 1960s, a movement arose to change the Australian name of the game from women's basketball
to netball'' in order to avoid confusion between the two sports. The
Australian Basketball Union offered to pay the costs involved to alter the name, but the netball organisation rejected the change. Following the first tournament, one of the organisers, Miss R. Harris, declared The World Netball Championships have been held every four years since then. The
World Youth Netball Championships started in
Canberra in 1988, and have been held roughly every four years since. In 1995, the
International Olympic Committee recognized the International Federation of Netball Associations.
Comparison with basketball Netball's development traces back to American sports teacher
Clara Gregory Baer's misinterpretation of the
basketball rule book in 1895. The book had lines of patrol drawn on it and she interpreted this to mean that players had to stay in those zones. Baer's modifications proliferated and were later officially ratified into the rules for
women's basketball by 1899.
Martina Bergman-Österberg had also introduced basketball to her female students at her Physical Training College in
England in 1893. In the beginning it was also described as "women's basketball", but by 1897 it started to evolve into a distinctly separate sport based on modifications developed at Bergman-Österberg's college combined with Baer's rules. The first codified rules of Bergman-Österberg's new sport,
netball, were then published in 1901. By 1960, international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball, later renamed
World Netball, was formed to be the sport's
international governing body. Netball differs in many ways from basketball, principally in the absence of the
backboards from the
hoop or goal ring and the prohibition of
dribbling, bouncing, and running while in possession of the ball. Physical player contact is more controlled than in basketball. In addition, netball not only identifies the different positions of its players, but also defines where and in which areas of the court specific players are allowed to be when they compete.
Sex category The sport was created for girls and women and remains most popular among this demographic, with women's netball at elite and national levels receiving outside funding. Though
male netball teams exist in some areas, men's and mixed-sex teams are largely self-funded. Other countries with men's national teams include Canada, Fiji, Jamaica, Kenya, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates. In England, the England men's and mixed netball association (EMMNA) was founded in 2019 to develop, promote and govern men's and mixed netball teams in partnership with the national governing body. In June 2025,
World Netball announced a major update to its global events strategy, including the introduction of the first Men's Netball World Cup, marking a step towards establishing a global competitive pathway for male athletes.
Other . In 2004, New Zealand and Fiji sent teams to compete in the Australian Mixed and Men's National Championships. An all-
transgender netball team from Indonesia competed at the
1994 Gay Games. The team had been the
Indonesian national champions. 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 women's teams. ==Variants==