Dressing-down for Netball Australia
The days of netball dresses at local clubs in Australia could be over after a multi-level review of the game found the uniform was turning people away from the sport.
Netball Australia on Thursday released their findings of an independent review, which set out to assess the state of the game after the impact of Covid-19. It marked the largest scale-independent review ever conducted into the sport.
The review, led by netball great Liz Ellis, surveyed 10,000 netball fans, participants, volunteers and provided eight recommendations based on the sport’s future development and prosperity.
The review identified a number of challenges such as a lack of trust and communication, an instability of boards and a disconnect with fans – but also found the uniform was turning some players away.
‘‘The uniform is just a small component of what the sport can do better but it is an important part for some people,’’ Ellis said this week.
‘‘Some people don’t want to play because they don’t like the uniform, so, again, we’ve asked netball to be more flexible in allowing people to wear what they want to wear.’’
Netball is the fourth-biggest club sport in Australia, with 625,721 participants, and sits at the top when ranking female participants in club sport. It is also the thirdbiggest club sport for kids.
Ellis said that while some associations already allow people to alternate the uniform to their liking, such as wearing shorts, the game would be pushing the message to local clubs.
‘‘It’s just about making sure that we communicate ... with our grassroots delivery to say, look, you need to think about this, about maybe being a bit more relaxed and agile about this and how can we support you to do that?’’ she said.
Many netball clubs issue tightfitting lycra dresses for their players, similar to the ones worn by professionals.
Ellis said community members told the review they wished to wear clothing that was ‘‘more comfortable’’ with some eager to wear a uniform that better suited their religious or lifestyle requirements.
‘‘We didn’t spend too long on that, it was just a clear thing that came through from the survey that we did,’’ she said.
Dissatisfaction with tight netball uniforms is not a new concern. A report commissioned by Netball Australia in 2007 – Motivations and Barriers to Women Participating in Sport and Netball – recommended that teams in the lower grades be allowed to wear shorts.
‘‘With the increasing focus on obesity and body image in the media, and with sporting uniforms normally tighter and more revealing than street clothes, some players were not sufficiently confident in the appearance of their body to feel comfortable taking up sport,’’ the report read.
‘‘Having uniform options to suit all body types and physiques [that is, big-breasted and large-bottomed figures] was seen as way of encouraging the body conscious into the sport.’’
The 2020 review also recommended Netball Australia push Super Netball as the ‘‘commercial jewel’’ of the sport and suggested the sport should continue to find ways to innovate to attract more viewers.
This year, Super Netball saw the introduction of the two-point super shot rule, which created a wave of backlash from the sport’s traditionalists. The review also found the implementation of the super shot took too long to introduce.
As a result of the review, Netball Australia will appoint an administrator to be in charge of implementing the recommendations across the broader netball system in early 2021.