I don't want to get involved in the to-do about the lack of women candidates on the short list for the BBC Sports Personality of The Year award but it may be a good time to air a question that's been puzzling me for a while.
How come the best all-women's sport - the one which is not a poor relation to the men's version because there isn't one, one which is clearly played by keen amateurs in parks and school playgrounds all over the country, one which is a brilliant spectator sport because it's intelligible to even a casual watcher - is never given any coverage in the media and also, even more bafflingly, is not included in the Olympics, which seems nonetheless to have found room for activities as marginal as synchronised swimming?
I'm talking about netball. It's a brilliant game. What did it do to get left out in the cold?
It is a semi pro sport in Aus/NZ, I've seen it on TV when waiting for rugby to come on!
ReplyDeleteSomeone told me, don't know if this is true, that it is also semi pro in East Africa.
As Nacko said, It's on over here in NZ.
ReplyDeleteThe England netball team recently did some exhibition matches where I work - taking on various corporate teams. It was an afternoon of stunning speedster skills with hardly a breath between the beats of the game
ReplyDeleteI can tell you why in two words. Beach Volleyball.
ReplyDeleteNetball is a poor relation to basketball, the far more glamorous, cool and exciting sport.
ReplyDeleteThree other words: American Television Money.
ReplyDeleteThat's why the Olympics find room for Beach Volleyball, Synchronised Swimming, and Snowboarding. All of which get wall-to-wall coverage over here during the games.
Understood, and a valid point, I think. I'd suggest lacrosse, if I thought that, for one minute, people had seen enough to agree or diss freely. It's pretty good, though.
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