Netball will move away from its mandatory, traditional dress, with the sport’s governing body updating its uniform policy to give players greater choice in what they wear on court.
Players at all levels of the game will now be able to choose to wear any combination of items including a dress, singlet, bodysuit, short sleeve and long sleeve shirt, skirt, shorts, and long pants.
The new guidelines are designed to be more inclusive of everyone who wants to play the sport and reduce barriers to participation, recognising individual preferences and religious beliefs. The guidelines also state that it is “perfectly acceptable for players to wear head coverings for religious reasons”.
Glenn Turnor, Netball Australia Executive General Manager for Strategy, Government and Community, said the uniform update was important for the progression of netball.
“Netball is ever-evolving, and we need to reflect this in all aspects of our game, including uniform choices,” Turnor said in a statement. “This process has been a joint effort with our Member Organisations, their boards and their Chief Executive Officers, whereby we collectively identified barriers to be removed from netball.”
“We are excited to implement these inclusive uniform guidelines going into 2023 and ensure that everyone can feel comfortable playing netball.”
Next year’s Super Netball pre-season competition, the Team Girls Cup, will implement the new guidelines, with the competing clubs able to introduce the new options for players.
The change comes after Netball Australia’s 2020 “State of the Game” review, chaired by Liz Ellis, which found that a lack of flexibility in uniform was a major drawback for participation in the game, and even led to some players leaving the sport behind for good.
In 2021, Netball NSW launched its own uniform range for players to be more inclusive and comfortable for people of all ages, gender identities and cultural backgrounds.
The new Netball Australia uniform guidelines have been adopted by all eight member organisations and will come into effect from January 1.