Netball is another one of the those sports which has somehow passed the US of A by - in spite of the fact that from memory it was invented by an American as a "less athletic" form of basketball. Little did he know ...
It's mostly played by women, although there is an increasing number of men's teams about. Social netball is often played by teams of mixed gender.
Most New Zealand schoolgirls go through at least a phase of playing netball; some go on to adult teams and a select few make it to the national side. Irene van Dyk was captain of South Africa's team, but emigrated to Zild and is now playing goal shoot/goal attack for us, most recently against South Africa. We won, of course.
Anyway, from a technical perspective it's played by a team of seven on each side, has hoops as in basketball but no backboard - you have to be able to put the ball straight through the hoop. You are not allowed to dribble the ball; all ball movement is by passing. You are not allowed to "step" while you have the ball, i.e. you can't carry it and move on the court.
It's highly skilled and as athletic as basketball, and although it's not meant to be a contact sport someone forgot to inform the Jamaican team of this aspect of the game. Australia are currently the world champions
but they seem to swap off with Zild and South Africa is coming up through the ranks. England, where it was first played, probably makes up number five position in the rankings worldwide.
Sorry - probably more than you wanted to know, but I follow it (and play socially from time to time) so you got lumbered!
