Commonwealth Games: Netball’s basketball roots and the 2032 Olympic dream

Netball has 13 million players worldwide. England has the most active players of all countries with thirty million, and Africa has the most of all continents.

Traditionally, a Commonwealth-focused sport, there is no mistaking that Glasgow 2026 is a major occasion for netball.

At the same time, the Commonwealth Games is struggling to survive, amid concerns over hosting costs and growing questions about its relevance to the modern world due to its basis in Britain’s colonial past.

The event is “hugely important for netball”, World Netball president Dame Liz Nicholl told BBC Sport, adding that more than 150,000 tickets had been sold for netball at Birmingham 2022.

“We strongly support the Commonwealth Games and want to see it flourish,” he said. “But the future of netball cannot depend on one event.”

Chelsea Pittman, Commonwealth gold medalist with England in 2018 and now Nottingham Forest head coach, told BBC Sport: “We need it. If the Olympics became part of netball, (it would) be absolutely amazing. But the Commonwealth Games don’t allow netball to be part of anything like a multi-starpiece.

England head coach Anna Stembridge agreed, telling BBC Sport: “It’s a really important part of our history… a really important part of our four-year cycle.”

There is another hurdle: netball is no longer guaranteed a Commonwealth Games platform, with only athletics and swimming now designated as core sports.

Netball is aware of all the possibilities and one change is that the quadrennial World Cup is set to become biennial from next year.

But the campaign for inclusion in the 2032 Olympics is also gathering pace, with a decision expected soon

“Achieving Olympic inclusion will be a hugely important moment in the sport’s history,” said former Wales netball international Dame Liz, who was CEO of UK Sport from 2010 to 2019.

She believes netball’s knock-on effects can “prove it for future generations” to get approval from the IOC.

“Being in the Olympics is an ambition for every athlete and if ever there was a chance, it’s now,” he said.

“We must demonstrate strong governance, global reach, compelling events and alignment with the priorities of the Olympic Movement.

“We believe netball has a very strong case and can make a meaningful contribution to Brisbane 2032.”

Kent College from two waste paper bins and a ball to the Olympic stage?

Tack, Madame Osterberg.