More flexibility in uniforms key to reversing ‘obvious decline’ in Australia netball

The newly released State of the Game Review into netball in Australia has identified player uniforms - the sleeveless dress type that have been worn for decades - as being a potential obstacle to participation.

Establishing a series of key recommendations for the sport, the independent review, led by former Australian captain Liz Ellis, confronts figures that show while overall participation numbers for the sport have risen, AusPlay data shows that over the past 20 years overall participation (as a percentage of population) has declined from 4.5% in 2001 to 2.9% in 2020.

The Review notes “it is confronting to lean into the data which paints a slow but obvious decline of Australian netball”.

Going on to state “that the top three reasons individuals participate in netball is for fun, fitness and for the enjoyment of being in a team”, it that the sport “should be focused on delivering customer experiences which achieve the outcomes sought by participants”.

While suggesting that the sport should look at scheduling matters, it also advised that it should allow “participants to choose uniforms that cater for different comfort, modesty, cost, and cultural sensitivities”.

The Report advises that the issue of uniforms was the topic of strong from across the netball community, from grassroots to elite players, with one stakeholder quoted in the report stating “we need to be creative in how we include everyone in our sport. For some people, the uniform is the issue and allowing them to wear different clothes would be a simple fix.”

With sporting wear having evolved massively over recent decades, sporting journalist Megan Maurice wrote in the Guardian Australia, “one of the most difficult things to grasp about the fact that this change has taken so long to even be considered, let alone implemented, is that grassroots netball does not require uniforms at all.

“Players wear positional bibs and many social competitions have recognised this completely does away with a need for uniforms. When one team wears fluro pink bibs and the other team wears yellow ones, it simply does not matter that some players choose to wear baggy T-shirts and tights, while others opt for singlets and shorts.

“This also makes it easier to account for the religious and cultural needs of some players, such as those from Muslim backgrounds. When inclusion is built into the fabric of the sport, rather than granted by special request, it allows everyone to find their place within it.”

Click here to view the full State of the Game Review report.

Image: Fast 5 netball.