Netball Whanganui records growing demand with more boys leaping into the sport

Netball Whanganui community centre manager Robyn Walford (left) and community development officer Natale Hales are ready for a big season. Photo / Bevan Conley

Netball in Whanganui is growing, with a mixed grade being created to make room for the rising number of boys involved in the sport.

A large increase in players has meant this year’s season will have 14 new teams and six new mixed teams - with an estimated 150 new players.

Netball Whanganui community centre manager Robyn Walford said there was not one specific reason for the increase in players but young people often followed their friends when it came to sport.

“Or, in the case of netball, their mums,” Walford said.

The Premier grade will play on Monday nights instead of Saturdays, with the competition beginning on May 13 at Springvale Stadium.

“We have changed the format of that competition to make room for more teams and more spectators hopefully,” Walford said.

The secondary school and club competitions began on May 4.

New Netball Whanganui community development officer Natale Hales has been visiting schools alongside Walford to offer taster sessions to attract more students to the sport.

That has also meant travelling further afield to rural schools such as those in Raetihi and Waverley.

“They put in a lot of effort to come here and play netball so we’re returning that favour,” Hales said.

A new mixed grade had been formed to accommodate the larger number of male players coming to the sport.

Walford said it was good to see stronger interest from male players but it was important that it did not encroach on the female competitions.

“Boys are allowed to play netball up until the age of 13 but then, after that, there hasn’t really been anything for them and it is becoming more popular.

“Netball is the biggest girls’ sport in the country so we still want to have our girls-only competition but make it available for boys to play mixed.”

The shift is happening at the same time as more women are signing up for previously male-dominated sports such as rugby.

“I think it’s just becoming more of an accepted thing that both genders play both sports,” Walford said.

Netball Whanganui hopes to eventually create a boys-only grade.

Walford said netball was a non-contact sport and, because male players were physically larger, they tended to play more aerially, which could be intimidating for young girls.

“We just try to keep them separate because we don’t want to lose our girl players.”

One of the major benefits of netball was that it took only seven people to form a team - and for students lower than intermediate age, it took only four people.

“The teams are smaller and the goals hoops are bigger and lower so, all the way up, the games are modified so that they get more of a touch on the ball and a sense of how to play netball.”

The Netball New Zealand Under-18 Championships will be held in Dunedin in July.

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.