A big birthday on the horizon

In two years’ time, on 12 February 2026, England Netball will be celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the birth and development of netball in this country and plans are afoot to celebrate this momentous occasion.

Back in 1926, a group of pioneering women met in the drawing room of the YMCA in Tottenham Court Road, London, under the chairmanship of Miss Edith Thompson, CBE, and formed the All England Women’s Net Ball Association. Yes – two words: ‘Net Ball’.

Prior to this, back in 1895 an American, Dr Justin Toles, came over to Madam Osterberg’s Physical Training College in Hampstead, London and introduced the students to the American game of basketball. There were no printed rules – no lines, circles, or boundaries. The goals were two wastepaper baskets hung on walls at each end of the sports hall.

In 1897 when the college had moved to Dartford in Kent, the game was played outdoors on grass and the students introduced posts with rings instead of baskets as well as dividing the ground into three sections – and the history of Net Ball had really begun!

After completing their physical training course, graduates of the college were virtually guaranteed employment in girls’ schools throughout the country, with an ample yearly salary of £100! In addition to introducing the game into the school curriculum in the UK, many travelled overseas to Commonwealth countries and introduced Net Ball to them.

In 1900 The Ling Association (now the Physical Education Association) set up a sub-committee to publish the first set of Net Ball rules, of which 250 copies were printed.

The game steadily developed, with modifications to the rules based on the experience of clubs and schools. The Polytechnic Netball Club was established in 1907 – it is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running and oldest netball club in the world. They also have the oldest netball trophy in the world and have been involved in the Middlesex County League and with England Netball since their inceptions.

In 1924 the London & Home Counties Net Ball Federation was formed with Miss Winefride O’Reilly as Hon. Secretary. The aim was to organise clubs within London and its environs and ultimately to establish a national association.

In 1925 a joint Committee of the London & Home Counties Federation and the Ling Association was formed and 10,800 rule books were sold. The netball goal post is an essential piece of equipment, and you might think that it would not have changed much over the years. However, the post and the net underwent some changes in the early years. Early goal posts were wooden and did not have nets attached, which made it difficult to see when a goal had been scored!

And so to 12 February 1926, when 230 delegates met and formed the All England Women’s Net Ball Association with a provisional committee consisting of five representatives from the Ling Association and five representatives from the London and Home Counties Net Ball Federation. In the first season 12 leagues and 21 clubs affiliated.

Further information regarding the history and development of England Netball and details of planned celebrations will be published in future editions of 5TH QTR.