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Culture / Sporting Life

Forget Pickleball, Netball Is Becoming a Thing In The Woodlands — A New Court and a Popular Sport Overseas

How You Can Jump In and Learn the Game

BY // 07.19.24
photography Laura Landsbaum

Everyone knows what pickleball is by now, but what about netball? Played by two teams of seven on a rectangular court with raised goal rings, netball is gaining a foothold in The Woodlands.

A new netball court has been put in at Bear Branch Park, thanks to a growing community of netball players in the area. The Woodlands Warriors, an all-female netball team, call the new court home.

“What we really like about netball is that it’s all ages, all fitness levels, all skills,” Woodlands Warrior team member Catherine Green tells PaperCity The Woodlands. “What we really like about netball is that it’s all ages, all fitness levels, all skills.

“It’s just been really great way of bringing women together in community as well. There’s really not a lot of team sports for adult women offered in The Woodlands. Certainly there’s lots of people that are playing tennis and playing pickleball. But if you want to do something with a real team element, this is great for that.” 

Netball has been played at the Commonwealth Games since the 1990s, and is a more familiar game to those who have lived overseas.

“In the UK when I was growing up in school, there were really two sports that girls played in school,” Green says. “One was netball and the other one was field hockey. All school girls in the UK grew up playing it and it’s predominantly played in Commonwealth countries. But it is one of the most popular women’s team sports outside of the U.S.”

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The Woodlands Warriors netball team formed about two years ago. Word spread initially primarily by word of mouth through the expat community, according to Green.

“But having said that, there are a lot of people that have brought their American neighbor or their American friend,” Green notes. “So it’s just a very diverse group of folks, but it does provided a really nice way for people to be connected in the community.”

Permanent yellow lines mark the surface of the new multi-use court for netball in The Woodlands. Pickleball court lines are in white.
Permanent yellow lines mark the surface of the new multi-use court for netball in The Woodlands. Pickleball court lines are in white.

The sport is governed by World Netball, which oversees competitions in more than 80 countries with more than 20 million participants.

Netball was created by a misunderstanding of the rules of basketball in the 1890s, and bears little resemblance to basketball. There are seven players a side, and a hoop with a net (but no backboard) at either end of a court. The court is divided into zones. Players can only play in the zone assigned to ther position, while wearing a designated position bib. No dribbling or running with the ball is allowed. Only passing can advance the ball. 

Before this new netball court, The Woodlands Warriors used the covered court at Bear Branch and chalked lines on the multi-use court each session. LeaAnn Petersen, the director of communications for The Woodlands Township, says court had permanent lines added to the court based on community input. This came about because netball players spoke up.

Chalking the court before each game night was time consuming. The Warriors took their case to a Township meeting.

“At the beginning of May, we went to the Township and spoke in their public comment section,” Green says. Three team members spoke and brought up the community aspect of the game.

Netball Mania?

Some players have been away from the game for many years before getting drawn back to netball by The Woodlands Warriors.

“I hadn’t played for 30 years,” Green reveals. “The first night that I went to training and the very first drills that we started to do, it took me right back to being 18 years old. And it’s just so fun.”

Olivia Menezes came out  to learn more after seeing a flyer about the netball team. Menezes was born and raised in the Middle East, and then moved to Bahrain when she was 14 and played netball there.

“I went to a convent school,” Menezes says. “Taught by Italian nuns straight out of Rome. And they taught us netball. It was never to be for competition. It was always for fun.

“They have this belief that nobody is better than the next one, so they never promoted it for competition.”

Multiuse Court Bear Branch Woodlands
The multi-use court at Bear Branch Park was recently covered, and lines were painted on for Netball.

The Woodlands hosted the first round of the National Netball League Championship in May. Teams traveled in from Atlanta and Austin to face The Woodlands Warriors. There are currently four netball league teams in Texas — based in Katy, Dallas, Austin and The Woodlands.

Netball lessons have been offered through Woodlands Warriors Netball since last fall. The Woodlands Township promotes the lessons in its Action Guide. In August, a new Fall Action Guide will be published with information about netball games and lessons.

“We’ll also be offering a separate beginner session through the Township,” Green says. “It’s a four week session for people who are totally new to the sport.”

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