Sport Australia 2020 – Netball Highlights from the Data in Australia

This week I was reviewing the recent Sport Australia 2020 published figures on Australian sport.[1] Naturally, I was interested in the Netball figures and where Netball is positioned in the overall Australian sporting landscape.  

The results portrayed a positive and exciting picture for Netball across Australia. Whilst there has certainly been a transition towards more individual sports over the past 18 years (e.g. yoga, running, cycling), it provided a good reminder of the importance community Netball plays in the day-to-day life and belonging of ~1 million Australians who actively participate and/or self-identify with the Australian Netball family. It was also a reminder of the importance of digitisation and modernising sport for the 21st century – and what a fantastic achievement pilates, cycling, fitness classes and yoga – “digital packaging” for the modern business professionals and families through mobile apps and social media platform delivery for classes at gyms, spin classes at home and DYI low-impact activations at your own level.

If the future of Netball can continue to embrace data, digital and technology too – especially with the tech and social savvy 5-24 year old’s (yes it’s that’s great a spread!) – we will continue to potentially expand our role in the Sporting landscape of not only Australia, but existing and emerging netball nations. Providing digital offerings and support to our stadiums, our players, our fans, our families, our training partners, clubs and association will only further strengthen that position and upskill our participants to act as social advocates of our sport, using technology to power the celebration of Netball participation at all levels.

I’ve shared four (4) interesting learnings from my research that I’d hope would raise pride, and continued enthusiasm from the netballers of Australia to continue pounding the pavement and passing the ball with pride. If we can roll-on with this momentum and solidify our position in the national sporting landscape amongst this digital revolution then netball has a bright future post COVID:19.

Learning #1: Soccer and Netball are two top team sports in Australia (overall)

Within Australia, it was interesting that only two “Team sports” – Soccer and Netball – were featured in the Top 10 participation activities over the past 18 years from 2001-2019.  

Learning #2: Netball is the #1 team sport for women and #8 participation in Australia

An estimated 537,000 women play Netball in Australia (#1 team sport)

I was surprised to learn that Netball was even more popular than Tennis among women.

Pilates has grown rapidly worldwide – with roughly the same participation as Netball.

Note: The above figures are for women (classified as being over 15 years old, not 18 years and older). 

Learning #3: Netball is #1 team sport for girls and #4 for girl’s participation

Estimated that 321,000 girls play Netball in Australia (under 14 years old). That 321,000 is double the participation levels of football/soccer and six times the current participation level for AFLW, which we know is an emerging participation force. 

Learning #4: Women have self-identify, belonging and friendships linked to Netball community – Netball is the #2 sport Australian women “Associate” with themselves. 

Nearly 1 million women “Associate” themselves with Netball (~9.7% of the Australian female population). Whilst this isn’t the same as current physical participation, they are still “Netballers” at heart and have an ongoing and lifelong passion for identifying with Netball, even if they aren’t currently playing. This is why the roles of our coaches, umpires, association members, managers etc are knitted into the fabric of our nation and play such an important leadership role as to the ongoing success of netball in this nation.

Bottom Line: Data suggests that Netball in Australia has a strong positive sense of belonging and team identity, since other sports have higher participation levels (swimming / fitness / running) but rank lower in how Australians self-identify with the activity. Simple stats, though very important in the reinforcement of where we belong in the sporting landscape.

Final thoughts

The Future of Netball in Australia would appear to be in a strong and vibrant position from the data provided by Sport Australia. Enjoyment and fun is key too -- and the data would suggest the rapid growth in digitised & individualised fitness/wellness categories can be combined with the team and belonging benefits of Netball communities. I'm very confident that Netball in Australia is well-placed to forge ahead as a global leader of activity-based wellness and innovative ways digital tools can allow Netball to connect with players, fans, teams, broadcasters and participation across the Australian community. 

[1] Data source: https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiM2Y2MzBjYWEtYmQ3YS00ZDI4LWFkMDgtNzUzMGI3ZWIyOTg4IiwidCI6IjhkMmUwZjRjLTU1ZjItNGNiMS04ZWU3LWRhNWRkM2ZmMzYwMCJ9