In a world where we’re all supposedly equal it beggars belief that netball believes that it’s okay for a sport to expect public money to be spent when it only caters for half of the population.
The claim that women will stop playing netball if men start is ludicrous. Just look at the growth in women’s football if you want proof of what a ridiculous claim that is.
I’m not sure there would be a rush of boys wanting to continue the sport in senior school – it would probably take two or three generations to build up any kind of momentum – and in theory it could harm basketball if men’s netball did take off. But it’s the arrogance associated with netball that gets to me.
The belief that somehow they’re special – the only sport that gets government money (and a lot of it) while refusing to allow one gender to play. One of the Scottish golf courses was turned down as venue for The Open as it won’t admit women. It’s impossible to get any kind of grant for coaching or events unless your providing benefits for both sexes. And that’s how it should be.
Yet netball believes it’s different. I get empire protection but this beyond the pale.
And yet the money keeps pouring in. For all Tracey Neville’s claim to be working on a shoestring, they’re simply not. If netball can’t run half a national team programme on £3million per year, basketball is doing fantastic to run a full one on a third of that. It must be all those tenners I keep handing over at Herts training.
But netball isn’t going to get in the Olympics (which raises the question as to the point of the article) for two reasons.
The world doesn’t care about it. Being members of the Olympic association looks nice on headed notepaper (if such a thing still exists) but has little meaning for them.
It’s only played by one gender and the IOC aren’t interested in that. Which is fantastically ironic.
daveballblog 