The Netball Show
S7 Ep37: NWC 5 Year Ani : The Growth (15th July 2024)
The netball show with Flyhawk. Raising the bar for netball and winning sports. I'm Zara Buck and this is the netball show with Flyhawk and a special set of podcasts as we celebrate five years since the netball World Cup was held in Liverpool. The 2019 netball World Cup was also known as the 2019 Vitality netball World Cup for sponsorship reasons and it was the 15th edition of the INF netball World Cup. It was held from the 12th to the 21st of July at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool. Host Nation England finished their campaign with a bronze medal. New Zealand became five-time champions after beating Australia in the final and gold medal match. At the launch event, Tamsing Greenway shared some insight on what it's like to play for your country. Playing for your country is one of the most incredible things you can do as an athlete. The World Cup, in particular, highlight for any netballer. The opportunity to pitch yourself against the best, the desire to lift that trophy and the thought of maybe having that gold medal around your net, why the anthem sings around the stadium is every player's dream, something I definitely dreamt of. Having a home World Cup in the great city of Liverpool, when that announcement came out, it was such an exciting time for us all and all of us that were involved in netball. I've been lucky enough to compete at three World Cups, the last in 2015 in Sydney. And I was there to witness how the whole of Australia got behind their side and sparked them onto a home victory. The roses now get that opportunity in 2019. They'll get to compete in front of their fans, their friends, their family on home soil. They'll get the opportunity to shine and they'll get the chance to capture the nation. What an incredible opportunity. Tamsen explain the importance of home major events and how they inspire the next generation of players. In this country, week in week out, we have some of the best netballers on display in our Vitality netball Super League, and we're so lucky to have the opportunity to see them, witness them, compete and play. The elite game right now is at its very, very, very best. In 2019, you're going to see some of the greatest players, some of the greatest role models in the game come and compete in Liverpool. I'm proud to think that next summer, we're welcome the whole of the netball world to this city, and we're welcome to a World Cup to show what we can achieve both on and off the court, and hopefully inspire the next generation of netballers. Tamsen also spoke to us at the launch. The excitement has started already, I can't believe we have to wait till 2019, but we're in a beautiful venue today, coming up here to Liverpool with such a buzz around the city. I've played at the Echo Arena several times, and I know that it's going to be a fantastic place to host a World Cup. And they've talked a lot about empowering women and girls, and the fact, and they want it to be the best World Cup for women's sport, and what do you make of that, how do you think they'll achieve it? You know what, I love that, and I know it's a massive statement, and I know lots of people have stuff to say about that, but netball is such a fantastic sport, and although we have lots of men that play it all over the world, it is a great opportunity for women to get together and socialise and keep fit and keep happy and healthy, and for us to then showcase the elite side to have all those teams, and the best athletes in the world are going to be competing in this city. What a fantastic opportunity to not only inspire the next generation and to get them hooked on to the sport, but also to leave a legacy for us as well. And from the netball World Cups that you've played, and what have been the outstanding memories from those? Ha ha, well, played in three World Cups, the first one we won't talk about, but the last one in Sydney was pretty special, coming back and doing that, and winning the bronze under all the circumstances we had. We've had a couple of close calls in the World Cups over the last eight years, where we perhaps could have been knocking on that door for a grand final, and it was such a proud moment to take home a bronze medal, but they were just incredible experiences with teams and memories that I'll never forget, and I think looking forward to this one, the team now, they're in the best position ever to make a grand final and change history. And is there any temptation to go make a fourth World Cup fourth? I keep saying my only regret of this whole World Cup being in England is I'm too old, because to have played in front of your friends and your friends and your family on home soil and the chances of capturing nation would be the alternate. You know, I've been lucky enough to play in three, but I'll be here supporting being the number one. I definitely will not be throwing my name into the ring. I'm way too old and not very good anymore to do that. Me not true. Joe Adams was the CEO of England netball at the time, and she spoke about the second pillar of the netball World Cup, Empowerment. Empowerment is a word that is so often used. The INF use it as one of their pillars. We have it as one of the netball World Cup pillars. And England netball certainly talks about the empowerment of women. But I wanted to look at what the definition of empowerment really is. It is the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one's life and claiming one's rights. So can we claim that netball and the netball World Cup 2019 can truly empower women and girls? Peace Presovia, a Ugandan player and a vitality netball super league player, said netball should be an anchor to hold on to, even when the storm is blowing you and you see no hope. It is the anchor that you have to hold on to and the very strong pillar that will never make you divert from your dream. One of my favourite back to netball ladies said that her life had been lived in a box and netball took the lid off. And another one of our ladies said, "I used to say I can't, but now I say I'm going to try anyway." Joe explained that the aim of a home World Cup was to grow the game in the UK. Netball is a sport that gives women and girls so many opportunities to play, but also has a predominantly female volunteer structure. When other sports are trying so hard to encourage coaches, officials and members onto their boards, netball really thrives and allows women to reach senior positions across all elements of the game. We want to inspire and empower women and girls to be the very best that they can be. At the launch event, Wendy Simons from Liverpool Council shared more on how she hoped hosting the netball World Cup would have an impact on Liverpool. Stage and prestigious events such as netball World Cup is yet another reason why Liverpool is held in high esteem and sport in the world. Netball is hugely popular and I know that when the World Cup comes here at the fantastic Echo Arena, it will live up to its reputation as a fast-paced, highly competitive and hugely entertaining sport. Audiences will see the world's best battle it out to take the top accolade out, and you'll never see the game at its very best. Winning the right to host the 15th netball World Cup is a real cool. Liverpool is a city with a sport run through its veins and we're really proud to host this. Lindsay Impert was the tournament director and she spoke to us. Women's sport is growing exponentially at the moment, but there's still an element there of us always having to make our place in the sporting world. And I think netball really gives women and girls that opportunity to have a sport that they can own, get them out there at every level, get them out playing, get them out enjoying themselves, and that will help really empower and inspire them to move forward in their lives. How big is the task for you coming in and the netball World Cup, I mean it's a World Cup, it's huge and obviously netball fans there, they're like fierce, they love it. So what's the challenge been like? It's large, I can't deny that, I certainly like a challenge, but I really appreciate the support from the netball family, although they are pushing for this to be the best it can be, and that pushes us to put on the best event for them. But they're out there to support us as well, they will volunteer, they will come in their drives, they will support the event and that's what's really important to us. The challenge is there, there's no doubt about it, we'll work hard and we'll do the best job we can do. But all we want is to get every netball fan that we can touch to come along to Liverpool in 2019, support their team, support all the teams and just really get behind the event. That will help make our challenge so much easier. We've talked a bit about how we want this World Cup to be the best in women's sport. How is that going to involve how will that manifest itself? As we said we want it to be the best event for women and girls. So we want every woman and girl and saying that we want them to bring their husbands and their dads and their kids and so on with them. But we want them to really feel like it's a great event for them. We will do what we can to celebrate the kind of music that they love, all the activities that are really focused on empowering and inspiring them to do better in their lives. And do you play netball yourself, what's your position? I mean our listeners might want to know a little bit. I would be a versatility player if I'm completely honest. I'm an ex runner and an ex netball player, I'm an injured netball player. I started off as centre because I was much taller than everybody else when I was younger. I'm a centre as well, you're definitely outdo me in the height. I then, through having unfortunately landed fever, moved to goalkeeper. Then gold defence, did a bit of shooting and now I sit at a weekend defence when I get to play because I get to run around for like this. It's great fun. Joe Adams explained more about the process of hosting the tournament in the UK. It's been a six year journey to get us to this point but Lindsay and her team have just done an incredible job. The logistics behind it are working beautifully well. We've had great response from all the nations and for me in particular because in the netball, obviously underwrote this competition. The fact that we've hit all the commercial targets and sold over 90,000 tickets, that is the thing that gives me the most comfort. Because we can really plan now to make sure that the athletes and the fans have the most extraordinary experience so couldn't be happier at this moment in time. Almost just making the whole thing something special and making lasting memories. That's exactly what we want to do. We know we'll have lots of existing netball fans going but we want to make sure that people that have never seen the sport live before fall in love with it and want to come back and want to come back and watch the domestic league or the vitality roses taking to court at another time. And there's a big legacy piece from England netball here to inspire yet another generation to play. And we saw the impact that Commonwealth Games gold medal had and we hope that the World Cup delivers the same sort of legacy that that's delivered and that's the most important thing to us. A joint broadcast deal was announced between Sky Sports and the BBC to show the tournament as Joe Adams explains. Sky has been an incredible supporter of ours. And for them to work collaboratively with the BBC is just it's so important for the sport. And that's right. The whole new audience will see this. The content that's going behind it, the promotion from both Sky and the BBC through the World Cup is so important for us. And you've probably seen us on the one show. It's on Sky Sportswoman. You know, it's endless coverage of the build up to the event and it is so important. It is that moment where, same as on the Gold Coast, we took our sport to a huge audience. This will take our sport yet again to a bigger audience and our broadcast deal with Sky is up in 2020. And we hope that other people, you know, look at this and think this is a property we'd really like to engage with. Sky netballs Hannah Wilkes explained more. Netball World Cup weeks away. And so is Sky Sports netball. This is exciting. Yes. Can you believe it? We're going to have a dedicated netball channel. I mean, I knew it was coming and I'm still excited. How long has this taken the plan? I mean, I have to say there's a lot of very hardworking people in the building who've been working on the planning around the World Cup for a very long time. Obviously, these things, you don't get at the end of the Super League season and go, right, what we're going to do for the World Cup and it's in too much time sort of thing. There's been a lot of planning, a lot of hard work going back. But I think the real feeling around netball and women's sport generally is that, you know, we want it to be as visible as possible. We want as many people as possible to be able to watch it because you can't see it, you can't be it. So it's really important that we make it as accessible as possible for everyone. So Sky Sports mix is becoming Sky Sports netball and the great thing about that is that's in the entertainment section of Sky. You don't have to be a Sky Sports customer. If you've got Sky, you've got Sky Sports nicks. Channel 121 next to ITV4. There you go. And also as well, we're showing every single game. Obviously, we're streaming them on YouTube as well. So if you're in the office, you can have it in the corner of your screen. It'll all be on Sky Sports YouTube channel. So it's really accessible. We're going to have over 250 hours of coverage. Can I say that aloud makes you feel a little bit nervous and go, "Oh my goodness. Just how, like, it's going to be a marathon for us all." Not a sprint, that's for sure. So yeah, dedicated channel and then all 60 matches are going to be on Sky Sports YouTube channel. So you can literally see it everywhere. You can watch on your phone, you can watch your laps, you can watch on your TV, got it all everywhere. Sky first broadcast, back in 2004, I think it was, so 15 years on. Even for Sky to be able to offer something like that, a huge achievement for them. Yeah, it isn't. It's not something that's easy to do. There are huge waves of people, not just in Liverpool, like back at Sky as well. It takes a lot of manpower and a lot of dedication and commitment from whole departments and from Sky Sports as a whole. So we are committed to women's sport and we want people to be able to access it. And we want to give it the attention that a World Cup deserves. So yeah, it's phenomenal. You think how far the coverage has come to a point where we can now show every match of a net for World Cup. It's fantastic, really. Make sure you're really proud, actually. It's something very, very amazing and quite special to be a part of, I think. Lead host for the BBC's coverage was Hazel Irvine. I've been really fascinated by the crossover between the British system here and obviously the Super League in Australia. And I know that was a huge upheaval in netball terms when there was the split between the Kiwis and the Aussies. But I think that the Super League there has made a massive difference, I think, to the career path opportunities for women in elite sport. You think about it, yes, we're beginning to see that part in the Mayor's and football. There's a lot of sponsorship, but really the Australian Super League has written, the Super Netball there has really shown the way in terms of what's possible, in terms of pace structure, in terms of support for female athletes. And I think in terms of the normalization of a professional culture in women's elite sport. That is massive. And I think it's reflected by the profile of a lot of the players who are going to play there. And I think you're beginning to see that in this country too. And I think it's definitely not a Cedar League, not at all, because it's becoming very much an entity in its own right. It has great support. We see crowds that are coming to see these teams and these players, and the support for that is growing all the time. And I really think, Andy, that you're going to see increased crowds and increased interest in the British League after this World Cup as well, because we'll have, again, another platform just as we had at the Gold Coast to see women. I really want to see a bit more of that. I think something like 130,000 women and girls have taken up Netball, or have gone back to Netball in the wake of the Gold Coast events last year at the Commonwealth Games. That's incredible, isn't it? So, you know, I really think it's cut through. And I think the more we can get Netball into the public eye through newspaper coverage, through column inches, and obviously through internet reporting, and indeed visibility, and the better it will cut through in general terms. Hazel was involved in the BBC coverage back in 1995. I was working in commentary and indeed presentation and indeed the interviews. It was a very, very busy World Cup. And I remember it being one of the most exciting events to cover. And I can't remember our schedule at the time, but I know that I was run a bit ragged, but they made a coverage that we gave it. And I think this is really important that we can showcase every single one of the teams who are there. And I think, you know, in order for us to see sports on matches and Northern Ireland's matches, and England's matches clearly from a domestic audience is vital too. But I think more than that, I think you see the growth of the sport all around the world, and you see the amazing talent that has been coming for a long, long time, as far as I can remember, you know, doing test matches with the West Indies against England from as long ago as 1981, 1982. I've seen the incredible skills from women around the world. And I'm particularly excited to see the wonderful skills and the developing netball nations of Uganda and Malawi, in particular, and of course South Africa as well, who will be very much a force. So it's a great thing that we can indeed celebrate every team in the World Cup this time. And the fact that it was the BBC that showed that Commonwealth Games as well, that makes it a little bit special. Yeah, I think that's been a really huge moment, the Commonwealth Games and Gold Coast. I was in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 to do the very first events of netball in the Commonwealth Games, when it was first included. That was the first time that team sports were included. And I did the commentary for the BBC with White Amanu, actually, the Kiwi legend, World Cup winner, and of course, former coach herself, and learned a huge amount from sitting next to Wai all these years ago. And of course, it was at the time that we really were able to see a multi-sport environment in which netball played an integral part. And I think it really showed its true colours and its metal within that environment, and it was one of the great team sports that were introduced at the time. And that's fantastic, kept final. As I recall, I think it was Cheryl McMahon who shot the winning goal for Australia in the last millisecond of the time, against the silver fairs. And I think everybody could see what a wonderfully dramatic and athletic sport that it was played by elite athletes. So, yes, and I think moving forward to 2018 last year, the fact that the antipodean stranglehold has been broken on the multi-sport stage at the Commonwealth Games. And indeed, on a world stage, was hugely significant. And it wasn't just the efforts of a magnificent England roses team that were responsible for that. We saw the fantastic talent showcased by Malawi and their defeat of the silver fans, and we saw, of course, Jamaica as well. And we saw so many other nations coming through. And I think that was a hugely important moment for netball. I think it's maybe been the making of the sport from a prospective point of view around the world. That it's not just controlled by the Southern Hemisphere teams. And I think the BBC was able to do that. And the fact that it resonated so strongly was evidenced by the very strong showing of the England roses. The BBC sports personnel of the year with the team of the year. And of course, the vote from everybody in the general public for a moment of the year too, shows exactly what it meant to people. And exactly the reach and the breakthrough quality that that achievement had actually made. Hazel explained more about hosting major tournaments. BBC's broadcasts are four moments of national importance and international importance. And I think this World Cup is a huge, huge moment, not just for netball, but it's world sport. This is elite sport. This is a big moment. This is elite sport played by elite athletes who happen to be women. As we have to get in our minds here, there's a massive influence and indeed emphasis on women's sport this summer. Naturally, because by happenstance and by happy coincidence, there are so many elite world class events taking place this summer that are being played by women. And so grouping them, aggregating them together is a natural consequence of the fact they're all taking place and a natural consequence of the fact that it is wonderful sport that everybody wants to watch because it is exactly that. Wonderful sport, full of drama, full of elite athletes doing their thing. And it's an absolute pleasure to be involved in. I'm Zara Buck and on the next podcast, we look at the tournament itself and get some of the post match reaction as New Zealand beat Australia in that 2019 netball World Cup final. The netball show is now also available via Sky HD, Sky Q and Sky Glass. So let's get and we're on the podcast's rail. (logo whooshing)
How has Netball in the UK grown since the Netball World Cup in 2019 was held in Liverpool.