Netball ‘gender neutral’, claims ex-Roses coach
FORMER England Roses head coach Tracey Neville says that netball is a “gender neutral” sport which can appeal to both men and women.
She hopes the Rise Again Festival, which will see all 11 Superleague teams compete against each other as well as two men’s teams, will showcase the sport to a wider audience.
“We shouldn’t make it exclusive or put barriers up,” she told BBC Sport.
The tournament, which takes place today and tomorrow in Manchester, features the reigning Vitality Netball Superleague champions Loughborough Lightning.
London-based Knights and Manchester-based Spartans are the two men’s teams who will feature in the tournament in Belle Vue, which will see sides compete in games made up of eight-minute quarters.
“This is not only about the competition but also testing players under physical pressure, showing that netball is a gender neutral sport and a sport that facilitates both genders,” said Neville, below.
“At the moment in the UK there are not a lot of men’s teams out there and there isn’t a lot of facilitation for them to get involved so this is also about giving them a demonstration within our event.”
England Netball recently announced its partnership with England Men’s and Mixed Netball Association (Emmna) to help grow the men’s game in England and support World Netball’s desire for the sport to be included in the Brisbane Olympics in 2032.
“We’re trying to expose our sport to many different people,” said Neville, who is now performance operations director at Manchester Thunder. “It’s always been classed as schoolgirls and women that come to the events but this is about getting men involved and saying that actually men can do this.”
New Zealand held a Test series against their national men’s team in October.
Neville said: “Once we get male representation within those environments, young boys will feel like that they have a role model to aspire to – we shouldn’t make it exclusive or put barriers up.”
There are now 20 clubs with established men’s and mixed netball teams in England, with almost 20,000 men playing the sport.
“The wider audiences is key for netball to get bigger and better,” said Neville.
“At the Commonwealth Games when we won gold in 2018 we saw netball catapult its audiences and fan engagement levels and we want to do that more.” Netball’s bid to get more men involved in the sport is a clear attempt to boost hopes of the sport making it to the Olympics and Neville says that is the “greatest aspiration”. ■■For more sports stories, visit: