Netball has been played in France since at least 1981, with members of the British Embassy forming a club. The first non-embassy club was Netball Paris, formed in 2010.
In July 2019, after realising the need for a national governing body to grow the sport and provide further opportunities, Bethany Lord formed a Netball France steering committee at Netball Paris, alongside Laura-Lynn Greaves Letellier, Laura Pech Hylton, Leenah Aiono, Gab Bell and Natalie Foster.
October 2019 saw the first meeting of the foundation clubs, with Netball Côte Basque, Les-Mesnil-Maisons-Laffitte Netball (LMML), Netball Lyon, Netball Paris, Netball Toulouse, Oceania Netball, Valley Vipers Netball (St Jean D’Aulps) and Vasles Netball attending. The decision was made to form an Association of Associations, with Bethany Lord and Laura Pech Hylton appointed temporary President and Treasurer respectively.
In January 2020, Netball France’s application to become an Association of Associations was approved by the Ministère des Sports, and in March 2020 applications for the inaugural Board of Directors were opened.
The inaugural Board was appointed in September 2020, and they held their first AGM in January 2021, announcing their aim to grow, develop and promote the sport of Netball in France.
The first annual ‘Coupe de Netball France’ was held at The British School of Paris in September 2021.
Netball France achieved Full Membership of World & Europe Netball in March 2023.
Les Bleus, France’s National Netball Squad competed in their first international mixed competition in May 2023 against England Men’s & Mixed Netball Association. This was followed by their first international ranking matches at the Europe Netball Open Challenge 2023.
The game of Netball is believed to be derived from the early development of basketball in the USA. The creation of basketball is typically credited to James Naismith, a Canadian immigrant to the USA, who in 1891 invented an indoor game for young men at the School for Christian Workers (later the YMCA).
In 1895, Clara Baer, a sports teacher in New Orleans, wrote to Maismith asking for a copy of the rules. The rules she received contained a drawing of the court with lines on it, to show the areas players could best patrol. However, Baer misinterpreted the lines and thought players couldn’t leave these areas. In 1899 her mistake was ratified into the rules of women’s basketball as zones.
Netball was first played in England in 1895 at Madame Ostenburg’s College, after Martina Bergman Österberg introduced basketball to her students in 1893. She proceeded to modify the rules to suit the principles of Ling gymnastics and to tailor the sport to women, and tasked Ethel Adair Roberts to create a standard set of rules for the sport they called Net-ball, which were published by the Ling Association in 1901.
The first set of rules included:
In a 1904 modification to the rules, the 3 second rule was adopted over the original 5 second rule.
From these USA and England variations of the sport, Netball’s popularity began to grow, particularly through Commonwealth countries. There were no standardised rules at this time, with both nine-a-side and five-a-side versions of the game.
During an Australian tour of England in 1957, discussions took place concerning standardising the rules of the sport. This led to representatives from England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and The West Indies meeting in Sri Lanka in 1960, founding The International Federation of Women’s Basketball and Netball. Formal rules were established, and it was decided to hold World Championships every four years.
World Netball, previously known as The International Netball Federation (INF) and the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA), is the worldwide governing body of Netball. They are responsible for the management of World Rankings, rules of the game and the organisation of the Netball World Cup and Netball World Youth Cup. World Netball works across 5 regional areas: Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.
Europe Netball was originally established in 1989/90, and is the regional body within World Netball responsible for governing Netball across Europe. One of Europe Netball’s main objectives is to actively promote and encourage Netball and further its growth and development in the region. In keeping with this aim, the Annual Europe Netball Championships (at Under 17, Under 21 and Open levels) provide a performance environment and opportunity for participating members, thus raising the profile of the game and supporting member countries in developing Netball at all levels and for all age groups.
The Netball World Cup (NWC), previously known as the World Netball Championships, brings together the world’s top teams and represents Netball’s flagship event.
The event is showcased around the world through a range of broadcast partners, introducing Netball to a whole new audience. World Netball Congress is also held alongside the event, providing a global forum for Netball nations to come together, innovate, share ideas and celebrate women in sport.
The Netball World Youth Cup (NWYC) is the pinnacle of Netball competition for emerging players who are under 21 years of age, and has been held every four years since 1988.
For more information on the Netball World Youth Cup, visit the World Netball website.
In 1995 Netball became a ‘recognised’ Olympic sport, and World Netball is working towards achieving programmed status.
Netball is also a core sport for the Commonwealth games, after first being included in the programme at the 1998 games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Netball has been played in France since at least 1981, with members of the British Embassy forming a club. The first non-embassy club was Netball Paris, formed in 2010.
In July 2019, after realising the need for a national governing body to grow the sport and provide further opportunities, Bethany Lord formed a Netball France steering committee at Netball Paris, alongside Laura-Lynn Greaves Letellier, Laura Pech Hylton, Leenah Aiono, Gab Bell and Natalie Foster.
October 2019 saw the first meeting of the foundation clubs, with Netball Côte Basque, Les-Mesnil-Maisons-Laffitte Netball (LMML), Netball Lyon, Netball Paris, Netball Toulouse, Oceania Netball, Valley Vipers Netball (St Jean D’Aulps) and Vasles Netball attending. The decision was made to form an Association of Associations, with Bethany Lord and Laura Pech Hylton appointed temporary President and Treasurer respectively.
In January 2020, Netball France’s application to become an Association of Associations was approved by the Ministère des Sports, and in March 2020 applications for the inaugural Board of Directors were opened.
The inaugural Board was appointed in September 2020, and they held their first AGM in January 2021, announcing their aim to grow, develop and promote the sport of Netball in France.
The first annual ‘Coupe de Netball France’ was held at The British School of Paris in September 2021.
Netball France achieved Full Membership of World & Europe Netball in March 2023.
Les Bleus, France’s National Netball Squad competed in their first international mixed competition in May 2023 against England Men’s & Mixed Netball Association. This was followed by their first international ranking matches at the Europe Netball Open Challenge 2023.
The game of Netball is believed to be derived from the early development of basketball in the USA. The creation of basketball is typically credited to James Naismith, a Canadian immigrant to the USA, who in 1891 invented an indoor game for young men at the School for Christian Workers (later the YMCA).
In 1895, Clara Baer, a sports teacher in New Orleans, wrote to Maismith asking for a copy of the rules. The rules she received contained a drawing of the court with lines on it, to show the areas players could best patrol. However, Baer misinterpreted the lines and thought players couldn’t leave these areas. In 1899 her mistake was ratified into the rules of women’s basketball as zones.
Netball was first played in England in 1895 at Madame Ostenburg’s College, after Martina Bergman Österberg introduced basketball to her students in 1893. She proceeded to modify the rules to suit the principles of Ling gymnastics and to tailor the sport to women, and tasked Ethel Adair Roberts to create a standard set of rules for the sport they called Net-ball, which were published by the Ling Association in 1901.
The first set of rules included:
In a 1904 modification to the rules, the 3 second rule was adopted over the original 5 second rule.
From these USA and England variations of the sport, Netball’s popularity began to grow, particularly through Commonwealth countries. There were no standardised rules at this time, with both nine-a-side and five-a-side versions of the game.
During an Australian tour of England in 1957, discussions took place concerning standardising the rules of the sport. This led to representatives from England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and The West Indies meeting in Sri Lanka in 1960, founding The International Federation of Women’s Basketball and Netball. Formal rules were established, and it was decided to hold World Championships every four years.
World Netball, previously known as The International Netball Federation (INF) and the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA), is the worldwide governing body of Netball. They are responsible for the management of World Rankings, rules of the game and the organisation of the Netball World Cup and Netball World Youth Cup. World Netball works across 5 regional areas: Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.
Europe Netball was originally established in 1989/90, and is the regional body within World Netball responsible for governing Netball across Europe. One of Europe Netball’s main objectives is to actively promote and encourage Netball and further its growth and development in the region. In keeping with this aim, the Annual Europe Netball Championships (at Under 17, Under 21 and Open levels) provide a performance environment and opportunity for participating members, thus raising the profile of the game and supporting member countries in developing Netball at all levels and for all age groups.
The Netball World Cup (NWC), previously known as the World Netball Championships, brings together the world’s top teams and represents Netball’s flagship event.
The event is showcased around the world through a range of broadcast partners, introducing Netball to a whole new audience. World Netball Congress is also held alongside the event, providing a global forum for Netball nations to come together, innovate, share ideas and celebrate women in sport.
The Netball World Youth Cup (NWYC) is the pinnacle of Netball competition for emerging players who are under 21 years of age, and has been held every four years since 1988.
For more information on the Netball World Youth Cup, visit the World Netball website.
In 1995 Netball became a ‘recognised’ Olympic sport, and World Netball is working towards achieving programmed status.
Netball is also a core sport for the Commonwealth games, after first being included in the programme at the 1998 games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
