Netball, a ‘gurls’ weekend
Paddy Lewis
FIRSTLY, a disclaimer. Netball is good to watch. I had the netball round at the Otago Daily Times back in the day and enjoyed it immensely (and not for the reasons most sick minds are thinking). The players were good copy, the games (outdoors, in shitty weather, no less) were exciting, and the representative parties you got invited to were far more interesting than those where you were being held by your throat against a wall by a rugby player you’d written something about in the past. My parents still have an empty keg dropped off by a current ANZ Cup coach after a tournament win in 1988.
Having said that, the netball world championships is a bit like an overblown ‘gurls’ weekend away without the boozing. Until Saturday, the entire championship was pointless. The closest games in pool play were between Trinidad and Tobago v Wales (three goal margin, and both have been thumped by the Silver Ferns by at least 50 goals) and those two powerhouses, Samoa and Sri Lanka (four goal margin). The rest have been poundings.
For me, international netball (unless it’s us versus the dirty Aussies) is akin to turning your eyelids inside out and then placing lit touchpapers on them. We laugh in Noo Zilind about the Americans and their “World Series” of baseball. At least they’re doing something to improve the standard worldwide. Here, we seem to be stuck in a timewarp. Central Pulse need a new coach? Get a retread from the underperforming Southern Steel. Canterbury need a new coach? Drag out some underperforming old harridan from Gisborne. But yet, despite the deathly dull boring tat served up before the final of the world champs, the Silver Ferns breakfast needs, their sports psychologists, their blah-de-blah lives have been served up column inch after column inch.
There are only two decent netball teams in the world. Us and Australia. The rest are there for the “gurls” weekend.
Contrast that with the Black Sticks. They finished third at the Champions Trophy – arguably the most prestigious hockey tournament outside the Olympics. Only penalty strokes kept them from playing for gold. Nevertheless, they rank inside back page coverage with most of our media, with women’s sport reportage still being dominated by a sport where only two countries in the world have a chance of winning.
At the risk of causing an inundation of letters to the editor, hockey players are fitter, more skilful, and better ambassadors for New Zealand worldwide than our netballers. Netball isn’t an Olympic sport – and god help us if it ever is, based on current standards. Yet we seem to have this ridiculous imbalance in our media coverage. Just because we have a trans-Tasman netball league doesn’t mean it should receive more coverage than our over-achieveing hockey players.
As I said previously, don’t get me wrong. Netball can be an exciting game. But so can hockey. And at a hockey world championships, Champions Trophy, or Olympic Games, every game is cut-throat. Netball, sadly, is not. That comes down more to the officials than the players. We’re a generation away and a few eligibility rule changes before netball becomes meaningful at a world champs level. So until then, how about we focus on an over-achieving women’s sports team?
Having said that, the netball world championships is a bit like an overblown ‘gurls’ weekend away without the boozing. Until Saturday, the entire championship was pointless. The closest games in pool play were between Trinidad and Tobago v Wales (three goal margin, and both have been thumped by the Silver Ferns by at least 50 goals) and those two powerhouses, Samoa and Sri Lanka (four goal margin). The rest have been poundings.
For me, international netball (unless it’s us versus the dirty Aussies) is akin to turning your eyelids inside out and then placing lit touchpapers on them. We laugh in Noo Zilind about the Americans and their “World Series” of baseball. At least they’re doing something to improve the standard worldwide. Here, we seem to be stuck in a timewarp. Central Pulse need a new coach? Get a retread from the underperforming Southern Steel. Canterbury need a new coach? Drag out some underperforming old harridan from Gisborne. But yet, despite the deathly dull boring tat served up before the final of the world champs, the Silver Ferns breakfast needs, their sports psychologists, their blah-de-blah lives have been served up column inch after column inch.
There are only two decent netball teams in the world. Us and Australia. The rest are there for the “gurls” weekend.
Contrast that with the Black Sticks. They finished third at the Champions Trophy – arguably the most prestigious hockey tournament outside the Olympics. Only penalty strokes kept them from playing for gold. Nevertheless, they rank inside back page coverage with most of our media, with women’s sport reportage still being dominated by a sport where only two countries in the world have a chance of winning.
At the risk of causing an inundation of letters to the editor, hockey players are fitter, more skilful, and better ambassadors for New Zealand worldwide than our netballers. Netball isn’t an Olympic sport – and god help us if it ever is, based on current standards. Yet we seem to have this ridiculous imbalance in our media coverage. Just because we have a trans-Tasman netball league doesn’t mean it should receive more coverage than our over-achieveing hockey players.
As I said previously, don’t get me wrong. Netball can be an exciting game. But so can hockey. And at a hockey world championships, Champions Trophy, or Olympic Games, every game is cut-throat. Netball, sadly, is not. That comes down more to the officials than the players. We’re a generation away and a few eligibility rule changes before netball becomes meaningful at a world champs level. So until then, how about we focus on an over-achieving women’s sports team?
Have Your Say
0 Comments
No comments.