In 1891, a 30-year-old Canadian, James Naismith, immigrated to Springfield, Massachusetts in the USA. He had invented men’s basketball game in the 1890 and was asked to develop a women's version of basketball game by the Boston YMCA. Then the miniature form of Netball game was formed.
The game was then brought to Australia as to many other countries, by English school teachers in the early 1900's.
Women liked the game but they found that the long passes were difficult to execute in the game due to their limited strength. So, the ladies decided to adapt the game to suit their circumstances. They divided the court into thirds and introduced a rule that the ball must be caught or touched at least once in each third. No one was allowed to run with the ball and they established restricted playing areas for each position. They got rid of the backboard and modified the goal ring to suit the smaller sized soccer ball and created "NETBALL".
The game was then brought to Australia as to many other countries, by English school teachers in the early 1900's.
Women liked the game but they found that the long passes were difficult to execute in the game due to their limited strength. So, the ladies decided to adapt the game to suit their circumstances. They divided the court into thirds and introduced a rule that the ball must be caught or touched at least once in each third. No one was allowed to run with the ball and they established restricted playing areas for each position. They got rid of the backboard and modified the goal ring to suit the smaller sized soccer ball and created "NETBALL".