Ex-England netballer Tamsin Greenway on why netball *still* hasn’t been recognised as an Olympic sport
Chances are, you played netball at some point or another. Whether youve kept it up into adulthood and dropped it at the first opportunity, netball was a nostalgic staple for most girls at school.
Here at GLAMOUR, were thrilled to see the predominantly female sport is gaining some long overdue recognition this summer. From Sky Sports live-streaming the netball World Cup, to regular headlines about its players, the sport is undoubtedly having a moment. However, theres still a long way to go. Not only is netball yet to be recognised as an Olympic sport, but its professional players are still juggling full time jobs due to a lack of funding.
Here, Tamsin Greenway, a previous member of the England national netball team, discusses why its not recognised as an Olympic sport, the importance of keeping it female dominated, and how they deal with sexist comments.
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This is why netball isnt recognised as an Olympic sport…
Breakdancing has officially been made an Olympic sport and yet Netball still hasn't. Theres a lot of suggestions about it being predominantly a female sport so youve got that issue, but the main problem is that Netball is only played in Commonwealth countries. The sport is still not massive in the US, China or mainland Europe. Its definitely growing but the reality is if we want to make it mainstream and get it into the olympics, weve got to look at participation and inclusion across the world because its very Commonwealth dominated. Until we can get netball to become a worldwide sport, well struggle to get it into the olympics.
The advantage of being attached to a male sport is the recognition and respect, but then you have the problem of being viewed as the inferior game
For years, it was very much viewed as a girls sport but weve slowly moved away from that stigma. Its a lot more mainstream and you hear far less sexist comments. Its not unusual to have dads, sons and boyfriends at netball games now. Thats not to say we dont still get the comments about it being a rubbish womens game, but I dont necessarily view that as a bad thing because at least were being heard and getting out into the masses.
The beauty of netball is that its not compared to the male game
While it could be viewed as sexist, I dont think it would be a sensible move to start investing in men playing netball. The sport has an opportunity to have worldwide leagues that operate, and are exclusively professional to women. It has the beauty of no comparison. We dont get compared to the male game because the female game is so dominant. Im not saying men shouldnt get involved but it shouldnt be the primary focus.
Professional players are still working full time jobs to afford to play
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We cannot be naive to the lack of funding. Although the England girls are on full time programmes, theres another 120 girls in the super league that
