Netball France is bringing you more matchplay across the country with the first ever netball league in France
Netball France is delighted to officially announce the launch of the Netball France – Ligue Nationale Pilote, the first ever netball league in France!
10 teams from 6 clubs have signed up for the commencement of the pilot season: Netball Côte Basque, Netball France x London Pulse Development Hub, Netball Nice Sunrise, Netball Nice Sunset, Netball Paris, Netball Toulouse-Léguevin Phoenixes, Netball Toulouse-Léguevin Roses, Oceania Netball, Valley Vipers Blue, and Valley Vipers Red. However, the league remains open and new teams can join at any point throughout the season with no upfront commitments by emailing ligues@netballfrance.com
The Netball France – Ligue Nationale Pilote will run from 28th January 2023 to 30th June 2023. At the conclusion of the trial, feedback and data will be collected for a full length season to commence around September/October 2023.
Running as a national system with one table across the country, there are no set dates for matches and teams are not required to play everyone in an effort to keep the pilot league as accessible to as many teams as possible. In order to enter the national table, teams must have played a minimum of 2 matches against 2 different teams, including 1 qualifying match (a match against an opposition team whose home base is >200km away). Once these requirements have been met, all past accurately registered results will count towards their placing on the table. Prior to meeting these requirements, participating teams will be displayed as sitting outside the national table.
One of Netball France’s core values, as evidenced in the Netball France Strategic Plan 2022-2025, is inclusion, and therefore the league is mixed gender. All genders are welcome, with opportunities available for mixed and female only teams.
The launch of the Netball France – Ligue Nationale Pilote is an incredibly exciting development for Netball France, offering more opportunities to our members and netballers across the country. The league will be a key proponent for the growth of the sport in France, contributing to a number of strategic objectives in the Netball France Strategic Plan 2022-2025. In fact, the launch of the league itself sees a major objective in the strategy being achieved, a wonderful accomplishment for the organisation in the early months of 2023.
The first matches were held by Netball Toulouse-Léguevin on Saturday 28th January 2023, attended by Netball Toulouse-Léguevin Phoenixes, Netball Toulouse-Léguevin Roses, Netball Côte Basque, and Oceania Netball. All four teams met the requirements to join the National Table and are now officially ranked, an incredible start to the season!
Netball France looks forward to seeing teams take to court in the league, and wishes all involved the best of luck!
For more details on the league, head to the Netball France – Ligue Nationale Pilote page on our website, or email ligues@netballfrance.com