INTRODUCTION
Netball is a popular and social sport in some parts of the world, particularly in the Commonwealth of Nations. According to IFNA ( International Federation of Netball Associations) over 20 million people all over the world play netball in more than 80 countries divided into five regions Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania. It’s development started from the early versions of basketball and netball started a year later known as a women's sport. The most major leagues in the sport are Netball Super League in Britain, Suncorp Super Netball in Australia and the ANZ Championship in New Zealand. The biggest international competitions are the Commonwealth Games, Quadrennial World Netball Championships, Quad Series and the Fast5
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Now days they are made of rubber or a water proof material which helps the players get a good grip on the ball. Also the balls are made of panels on them which help improve the flight of the ball in the air. The colours of the balls have evolved. The balls started of with brown, then orange and then went two- tone in white and black until an all white ball was chosen. Now the balls are multi coloured from green, blue, pink well basically every colour. The main ball supplier is Gilbert.
Netball In New Zealand
Netball is the most popular women's sport in New Zealand. With the national team the Silver Ferns, currently ranked second in the world. Netball was first introduced to New Zealand in 1906 as women's basketball and started to spread across the primary and secondary schools although there was different rules. Finally in 1970, NZ became the last country to adopt the name netball not women's basketball. The first netball international tournament was held in 1926 and the NZ international team was named in 1938 and they were touring Australia. Netball had grown a lot over the years in NZ and now has had a big impact on a lot of kiwi kids. The most well known names in New Zealand for netball are Irene Van Dyke, Laura Langman, Maria Tutaia, Casey Kopua, Anna Harrison, Jenny May Clarkson and Jodi Brown and those are just a few. New Zealand has two of the international referee’s in the
Over the past fifteen to twenty years women's fastpitch softball popularity has continued to grow and spread internationally. By the mid-1990s it was played in more than 85 countries under the eye of the International Softball Federation (ISF). It has become increasingly popular among women at the youth and collegiate levels. More than 630 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) member institutions sponsor women's softball programs, and national championships for women are held in all three NCAA sports divisions (Encarta, 1998). In 1991 women's fastpitch softball was selected to debut as a medal sport in the 1996 Olympic Summer Games in Columbia, Georgia. The U.S. won the gold medal in the 1996 Olympic Games due to a good defense and great hitters on the team. Even though defense and pitching are critical and vital parts of the game, a successful team must have an effective offense to win the game. Among all the standout hitters on the U.S. Olympic team, two of the best are Dot Richardson and Lisa Fernadez. Both Lisa and Dot have picture-perfect swings, which have made them very productive throughout their careers. Today there is a women's professional fastpitch softball league. Interest in the Women's Professional Softball League (WPSL) has been increasing for the last three years and continues to grow each year.
Women have been playing basketball for over a century before the Women's National Basketball Association came into existence. It was here at Smith College where many women got their first taste of the game. Women were described as having a "masculine performance style... rough and vicious play... worse than in men" (Hult 86). This aggressive playing style had to be modified because the violence and rough-housing that was going on were becoming intolerable. Eventually the Official Women's Basketball Rules were modified in that there was no dribbling allowed on the court at all, players were not allowed to make physical contact with each other and women were not allowed to grab the ball out of another women's hands.
Ever since sports has been introduced into our society it has always been gender specific. Today, sports are still gender specific but not as much as before due to the change in social norms. Many people enjoy playing sports. For some it may be the competition, for others it may be for the love of the game. It has been difficult for individuals who enter non-traditional sports for their gender. Women have especially struggled with this matter until the Title 9 was issued. Before Title 9, many women were not allowed to participate in track and other sports that were not considered feminine. During the Victorian Times, women were only allowed to play sports that didn't make them look sweaty, tired or just messy. They had to stick to the norm of being conservative and looking proper. Can you imagine, they had to even wear skirts for baseball and other sports? How can you be comfortable and play well in that kind of an outfit? When it came to tennis, they had to look graceful like a ballerina. The main concern in playing a sport is enjoying it and playing it well. It never had to do anything with being part of a beauty contest. Women were given limitations into what sports they could participate in. However, realistically women were just as good as their counterpart when it came to playing sports in which they were not allowed to play.
Canada boasts both female and male national teams for soccer. However, only one of those teams has shown success in recent years while the other one has little to no success at all. The female Canadian National team have become a success story in Canada and their fame really exploded following the 2012 London summer Olympic games. It was the first time Canada has won any traditional team medals since winning silver at the 1936 games (SOURCE). Currently the Canadian women are ranked 7th according to the FIFA ranking and have always been successful in the World cup. They have also won multiple medals in both CONCACAF and the PanAmerican games.
Women are becoming a bigger part of the professional sports world. The number of professional sports for women is growing at a very fast rate. Right now though, the comparison of women's professional sports to men's professional sports still varies greatly. For example, men's professional sports range from wrestling to football to skateboarding. Women on the other hand, do not have the opportunity to participate in these professional sports. But this is changing quickly. Women are beginning to receive the same opportunities in sports as men.
Softball has been played for some time now, by many people and by different countries . In fact softball was a creation by a man that also helped give people the idea of baseball as well. Till this very day softball has been apart of the olympics since the early 1990’s . When trying to get softball into the olympics wasn’t as easy as getting baseball into the olympics. The new candidates for the new Olympic softball team can easily help get them back in the game, and maybe make history.
Volleyball is one of the biggest team sports there are. It is big in the summer olympics and all around the world men and women play it every day. The game of volleyball was originally called “mintonette”, it was invented by William G. Morgan in 1895 at Springfield College in Massachusetts, they made it along with basketball. In 1957 volleyball was officially an Olympic sport, the first games were held in Tokyo 1964 and the first beach volleyball games were in 1996 Atlanta. In London 2012, USA got 12 silver medals. In the Olympics, the Soviet Union has won the most medals. The best country right now is Brazil, winning gold medals in London 2012. One of the best volleyball players from Minnesota right now is Tori Dixon who played for the Gophers
Men and women have been separated since the beginning of life. God put Adam in charge of the Earth. When God created Eve, he took a piece of Adam’s rib from his stomach to create Eve. From this story that came from the bible, men believe that God made them better than women. And this has created a gender inequality between man and woman ever since then. Gender inequality, as stated on The Free Dictionary’s website is, “the difference between women and men in regard to social, political, economic, or other attainments or attitudes, or the problem perceives to exist because of such difference.” I believe that, when it comes to women’s sports, there is a pretty big difference in genders. Some of these differences are caused by men. A good example is that there are an enormous amount of men that take it as a joke. Most men feel that women just do not have the capability to ever have the strength and skills to compete with men. While others look at it as women are too girly to play and that they will cry and complain if they break a nail. Some think women are too fragile and if they try to compete against a man they will get badly injured. I believe these opinions that men have about women in sports, leads to the gender inequalities in it.
Participation in sports and games has long been a part of Native culture. The most significant example of a sport invented and played by Natives is lacrosse. Lacrosse is still designated as the official sport of Canada despite the overwhelming popularity of hockey (http://canada.gc.ca). Lacrosse was one of many varieties of indigenous stickball games being played by Native Americans and Canadians at the time of European contact. Almost exclusively a male team sport, it is distinguished from other stick and ball games, such as field hockey or shinny, by the use of a netted racquet with which to pick the ball off the ground, throw, catch and vault it into or past a goal to score a point.
The fight for women's ice hockey players to earn respect and acceptance has been hard fought over the past one hundred years. Women have constantly been told that they can not play with men and that there sport is a second rate version of the men's game. The road of women's ice hockey has had many ups and downs but has perservered to the present day and is stronger than it has ever been. The future of women's ice hockey is bright thanks to diligence and hard work of those who kept it all going. Ironically women began playing the sport side by side with men over 100 years ago right at the sports inception. One of the oldest action pictures featuring ice hockey shows men playing with women. Part of the reason that women enjoyed early participation with men is because of the way that the public viewed the game. At the start, hockey was seen as a recreational activity. Women have been routinely barred from participating in serious and competitive sport, but if the game is viewed as merely recreational then women are more accepted. In the 1890's this is what happened to the sport of ice hockey. Suddenly the game was more than recreation and organization entered, rules were drawn and leagues were formed. With the new structure came segregation of the sexes. As the sport progressed for the men, the women were left behind. In spite of all this, the first all female organized game was played in Barrie, Ontario in 1892. Women's ice hockey slowly limped on up until the 1920's.
a player to win a toss up she will have a better reaction time than
Kanemasu, Yoko. "Rugby Is a Sport That Has given Fiji International Recognition. The Professionalisation of Rugby Has Led to a Growing Number of Elite Players Emigrating from Fiji." International Review for the Sociology of Sport. Dec2013, Vol. 48 Issue 6, P720-735. 16p (n.d.): n. pag. Web.
The sport of soccer has overcome many changes through the years. In particular, women’s soccer compared to men’s soccer has gained much notoriety. The widespread knowledge of soccer has spread throughout numerous countries. Soccer began as primarily a men’s sport, but today soccer is considered a sport that both genders participate in. Women’s soccer has changed dramatically over the years with the increase in popularity as well as new style and rules of the game.
“First appearing in England in the 14th century, King Edward lll issued a decree outlawing the practice of field hockey”(Wpadminskhdev). King Edward lll referred to the sport as an idle game and banned it from being played. He issued in the proclamation “Moreover we ordain that you prohibit under penalty of imprisonment all and sundry from such stone, wood and iron throwing; handball, football, or hockey; coursing and cock- fighting, or other such idle games”(Editors). Although King Edward lll did not encourage field hockey, the game made it all the way to our generation today. “Field hockey developed in the British Isles in the late 19th century by public schools along with the help of Middlesex cricket clubs in London”(Wpadminskhdev ). The origins of field hockey can be discovered in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Persia. “In England, professional men teams were formed, but later after, several women’s colleges formed the first Women’s field hockey team in the United States”(Mifflin).
Research on what it means for people to be a sports fan; what do sports mean in