Strathclyde Sirens star Emily Nicholl has backed calls from World Netball and Netball Australia to include the sport in the Olympics from Brisbane 2032, and says it has been a long time coming.
The 27-year-old from Biggar says having netball on the Olympics stage will further boost its popularity around the world, and says most people think it already IS included, given its prominence in the Commonwealth Games.
Nicholl said: “I feel like it has been a long time coming, and to be honest probably the general public think netball is already in the Olympics.
“People always ask if I’ve been to the Olympics, so they already think it’s in it, and in a way that’s good.
“They feel like it deserves its place there, and most of us in the sport all believe that it should be.
“When I found out that Australia had won the bid for 2032 in July I thought ‘finally, hopefully they’re going to get netball in there’.
“I feel like it definitely deserves its place, so hopefully it’s a really good opportunity for it to finally get in.”
Emily added: “It’s really popular at the Commonwealth Games, everyone gets really into it, so I think if it was to move to the Olympics world I think it would be just as successful.
“You see variations on sports, such as 3x3 basketball, so who knows what variation of netball could potentially be in the Olympics – but I think it would just be cool for the sport to finally get to the top, top level of recognition.
“The Commonwealth Games are very popular but the Olympics is what everyone watches, as the pinnacle of every sport, so it’s kind of what is missing from netball a wee bit, just that next level.
“It’s really popular in Australia, New Zealand, over here, and in the Caribbean nations, but to actually get it on the radar of countries like America or China would give it a wider TV audience.”
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