Charlotte Jordan of England Nets Mixed.
After the success of the Vitality Netball World Cup in Liverpool this summer, a further three teams will provide England with an opportunity to collect more medals.
Three England Nets teams are set to travel to South Africa for the World Indoor Netball Championships this week.
Here is everything you need to know about the tournament:
What is Nets?
Nets – previously known as Indoor Netball – is a variation of traditional netball, played within an enclosed netted area, which is used to bounce the ball back into the court, so it never goes out of play. It means the game is faster, more energetic and non-stop.
There are a few slight rule tweaks such as being able to score from outside of the circle, which makes the game higher scoring, and restarting from the defensive circle after a goal rather than the centre.
The nets themselves can also be utilised with players having the ability to bounce the ball off the high-tension nets to pass the ball to a teammate.
England Nets Ladies co-captain Natalie Miller said: “It is that it isn’t dissimilar to the traditional game of netball. However, the main differences would be that we play in a high-tension netted area and the different skills that it brings. That’s how we’d describe the main differences, the faster pace and playing off the net.”
The other main difference to note is that there are three variations of Nets:
- 5’s – involving five players on court
- 6’s – involving six players on court
- 7’s – involving seven players on court
For each variation, there is a women’s and a mixed team version. At the World Indoor Netball Championships, however, only 6’s and 7’s will be played. Each of England Nets’ three teams will play both of these disciplines at the tournament.
England Nets
England Nets are bringing three teams to the World Indoor Netball Championships in South Africa this summer; a Ladies side, an under 21 Women side, and a mixed side involving both men and women.
England Nets has grown and developed over the last two World Championships that have been entered, coming away with a gold medal on both occasions.
In October 2015, England took gold at the Nets World Championships in Australia. Four teams went to the Aged World Championships and the U18 Ladies squad became World Champions, beating South Africa 51-47 in the final. They also became the first England team to beat Australia in Nets, doing so three times across the competition.
Following on from that success in Australia, three squads travelled to Wellington, New Zealand, in August 2016. The Ladies squad came away as champions, winning the 7’s competition.
Since those triumphs, hard work has been put in to continue to put the game of Nets on the map; not only in international competition, but also at home in England.
Each side heading to Paarl, South Africa, will be in contention for a medal this year.
World Indoor Netball Championships
Each of the three teams are travelling to play in the World Indoor Netball Championships from 4-10 August 2019.
This event will showcase the world’s best Nets players, who will meet in Paarl to compete for the title of world champions in the respective categories.
There will be four nations represented by 17 teams and a total of 265 players and officials.
On 4 August, the commencement of the event will take place. The 6’s category will kickstart the competition with two days of group-stage action before the finals take place on Tuesday 6 August. The same format applies to the 7’s event, which all teams will also be competing in after a rest day, and the finals will occur on Saturday 10 August.
Confirmed Fixtures:
All fixtures listed are in UK time – South Africa is currently one hour ahead.
Fixtures taking place on Court One are available to view here – please note these are subject to change.
Ladies: 6’s Day One (Sunday 4 August) – Australia vs England (10:00) / New Zealand vs England (13:00) / South Africa vs England (16:00). 6’s Day Two (Monday 5 August) – Australia vs England (11:00) / South Africa vs England (12:00) / New Zealand vs England (15:00).
7’s Day One (Thursday 8 August) – Australia vs England (8:15) / South Africa vs England (12:00) / New Zealand vs England (14:35). 7’s Day Two (Friday 9 August) – Australia vs England (08:00) / South Africa vs England (11:45) / New Zealand vs England (14:15).
Mixed: 6’s Day One (Sunday 4 August) – Australia vs England (10:00) / South Africa vs England (12:00) / New Zealand vs England (15:00). 6’s Day Two (Monday 5 August) – Australia vs England (9:00) / South Africa vs England (11:00) / New Zealand vs England (14:00).
7’s Day One (Thursday 8 August) – Australia vs England (08:15) / South Africa vs England (10:45) / New Zealand vs England (13:15) / Australia vs England (17:00). 7’s Day Two (Friday 9 August) – South Africa vs England (9:15) / New Zealand vs England (13:00).
U21 Women: 6’s Day One (Sunday 4 August) – South Africa vs England (9:00) / England vs Australia (11:00) / New Zealand vs England (14:00). 6’s Day Two (Monday 5 August) – Australia vs England (08:00) / South Africa vs England (11:00) / New Zealand vs England (13:00).
7’s Day One (Thursday 8 August) – Australia vs England (07:00) / South Africa vs England (10:45) / New Zealand vs England (13:15) / Australia vs England (15:45). 7’s Day Two (Friday 9 August) – South Africa vs England (9:15) / New Zealand vs England (11:45).
Squads:
Ladies: Alexandra Boughey, Caroline Buckland (co-captain), Florence Edwards, Louise Grainger, Brogan Griffiths, Lucy Herdman, Kayleigh Jean, Natasha Khatib, Kara Miller, Natalie Miller (co-captain), Nicky Savill, Thea Rose-Thompson, Francesca Wells, Gill Queripel (Team Manager), Rowena Scott-Fairclough (Head Coach), Sharron Lewis-Burke (Head Coach), Faye Bateson (Assistant Coach).
Mixed: Ryan Allan (Head Coach and player), Patrick Buckley, Laura Butler, Michael Clarke, James Everley, Kellie Hull, Janis John, Charlotte Jordan, Dayna Kosega (vice-captain), Geoff Mackay, Stuart Nattrass, Katy Pell, Simon Taylor, Jen Walsh (Captain).
U21 Women: Lali Anderson, Vanessa Beal, Jasmine Burt, Ziana Butt, Victoria Lavender (Captain), Emma Linnett, Stephanie Marsden, Abby Miles, Hannah Raine, Marney Ross-Johnson, Rebecca Smith, Kalea Stagg, Brooke Vivian, Emily Geear, Shelley Copland (Head Coach), Lauren Townson (Team Manager).
You can follow England Nets on their World Indoor Netball Championships campaign on their official Twitter account.
For more information, visit the World Indoor Netball Association website.
