Netball Australia CEO Kate Palmer has said she thinks elite netball would do itself a disservice if it started to promote the men’s game.
“We have no shortage of corporate sponsorship, and I think it’s because companies know that we specifically target women,” Palmer told the Guardian Australia when asked if it was time netball started giving more support to male players by showcasing men’s netball at ANZ Championship or other elite matches.
“There simply are not the same opportunities for women in sport and across our society as there are for men. I think it’s wonderful that we are the only sport that is run by women for women. But also being a women’s game is what makes us a unique product, and I think that if we open the elite game up to men then we will lose our product differentiation.”
Palmer’s comments follow International Netball Federation president Molly Rhone’s interview on the BBC where she said the INF “will not promote netball as a game for men”. Rhone went on to say that she “made no apologies” for this, and that it was “great to have something that the women are in charge of”.
Around 20% of all netball players are male, with the majority of those playing in competitive or social mixed competitions. Male officials umpired the last two World Cup and Commonwealth Games gold medal games. Australia has a national men’s side, the Sonix, and the men’s national championships were held last month.
The respeted former Diamonds player Liz Ellis believes that including men will broaden the appeal of the game. “There’s no need to refer to women’s sport, because it’s just sport, it’s sport played by athletes who happen to be women,” she told Fairfax Media . “I’d like to see the term ‘women’s sport’ become redundant.
“There’s a growing popularity for young boys to want to play and that makes sense,” Ellis said. “And there are opportunities – even at the elite level, we’ve got men umpiring top games, we’ve got a head coach at the ANZ Championships who’s a bloke … now the opportunities are there and as a result they’re playing it.”
Australian Men’s and Mixed Netball Association president Grant Crocker declined Guardian Australia’s invitation to comment, saying he is currently involved in discussions with Netball Australia around recognition of the male game and would comment once these discussions had ended.
Palmer said she is glad men play netball, but emphasised much of their government funding also comes from being a sport that targets women. She added that it might be possible for an elite State of Origin-type mixed event to be played featuring the best men’s and women’s players from each state, but that would “depend on whether television broadcasters would be interested”.
