Fast5 Netball World Series

The Fast5 Netball World Series is an international Fast5 netball competition that was contested for the first time in October 2009. The new competition features modified Fast5 rules, and has been likened to Twenty20 cricket and rugby sevens.[1][2] The competition is contested by the six top national netball teams in the world, according to the INF World Rankings.[3]

Fast5 Netball World Series
Current season, competition or edition:
2018 Fast5 Netball World Series
2012 logo
SportFast5 netball
Inaugural season2009
No. of teams6
Most recent
champion(s)		 New Zealand
Most titles New Zealand (7 titles)
TV partner(s) Nine Network
Sky Sport
Sky Sports

Background

Before 2008, the major competitions in international netball were the Netball World Championships and the netball event of the Commonwealth Games, both held every four years. First-tier national teams also participated in yearly test series, with others playing in regional events. However, several significant changes in international netball occurred in 2008. Changes to international test rules were finalised at an International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) congress in Auckland in 2007, and progressively rolled out across netball-playing countries the following year.[4] The IFNA also introduced a new world rankings system to compare the performances of national teams.[5] In England, a campaign was started advocating netball's inclusion in the Olympic Games, as a demonstration sport in 2012 and potentially as a competitive sport from 2016.[6] In the Southern Hemisphere, the sport attained semi-professional status in Australia and New Zealand with the introduction of the ANZ Championship.[7][8]

Also, in December 2008 a new international netball competition was announced, the World Netball Series, to be contested in 2009 under modified rules.[1] The new rules had been trialled by England junior and senior squads over a 12-month period.[9] DVDs were sent to coaches of the participating teams for consultation. Some of the new rules were announced in December 2008, including six-minute playing quarters and power plays;[1][10] others were announced in February 2009.[9]

Prior to the 2012 edition the rules were revamped and renamed Fast5.[11]

Format

The competition is held over three days, and is played under Fast5 rules. Each team plays each other once during the first two days in a round-robin format. The four highest-scoring teams from this stage progress to the finals, played on the final day of competition, in which the 1st-ranked team plays the 4th-ranked team, while 2nd plays 3rd. The winners of these two matches contest the Grand Final; the remaining teams contest the third- and fifth-place playoffs.[12]

Venues

The first three editions of the tournament were held in England. Initially, Manchester was to host all three seasons in England at the MEN Arena. The venue is the largest indoor arena in Europe, capable of seating around 20,000 spectators.[13] However, the 2010 tournament was held in Liverpool at the Echo Arena, as wasthe 2011 tournament.

  • 2009: MEN Arena, Manchester (UK)
  • 2010–2011: Echo Arena, Liverpool (UK)
  • 2012–2014: Vector Arena, Auckland (NZ)
  • 2016–present: Melbourne Arena, Melbourne (AUS)

Results
Year Host Final 3rd 4th 5th 6th
Winner Final Score Runner-up
2009
Manchester		  New Zealand 32-27  Jamaica  Australia  England  Malawi  Samoa
2010
Liverpool		  New Zealand 28-26  England  Jamaica  Australia  Malawi  South Africa
2011
Liverpool		  England 33-26  New Zealand  Australia  Jamaica  South Africa  Fiji
2012
Auckland		  New Zealand 23-21  England  South Africa  Jamaica  Malawi  Australia
2013
Auckland		  New Zealand 56-27  Australia  Jamaica  South Africa  Malawi  England
2014
Auckland		  New Zealand 35-31  Australia  England  Jamaica  South Africa  Malawi
2016
Melbourne		  New Zealand 41-16  Australia  Malawi  England  Jamaica  South Africa
2017
Melbourne		  England 34-29  Jamaica  Australia  New Zealand  South Africa  Malawi
2018
Melbourne		  New Zealand 34-33  Jamaica  Australia  Malawi  England  South Africa

Organisation

The World Netball Series is organised by the International Netball Federation (INF), in conjunction with the national governing bodies of the six competing nations each year, UK Sport and the host city's local council.[14] England Netball covers air travel, accommodation, food and local travel expenses for all teams during the competition, while the respective netball governing bodies cover player allowances.[15]

Reception

Australian coach Norma Plummer greeted the new tournament positively: "If you want your sport to keep growing these days, it's got to become up with the times and keep having innovations that make the game exciting for not only the players, but all the spectators."[16] But Plummer also expressed some reservations about power plays being used against substantially weaker teams, and also about penalty shootouts and the new centre pass rule.[17]

Netball New Zealand (NNZ) Chief Executive Raelene Castle stated that she was "excited about what the new competition could bring to the ever-increasing profile of Netball internationally".[18] However, Castle also acknowledged that the shortened version of the game "may not be for everyone". New Zealand netball and basketball player Donna Wilkins also stated her concerns about the sport becoming too similar to basketball.[19]

gollark: I think £20 or so each, less if you buy in bulk.
gollark: You can get custom-printed T-shirts at fairly nonawful prices.
gollark: They're very expensive now. It's so bee.
gollark: Can you move them to the hypothetical new one?
gollark: Or creating a new Steam account.

References
  1. Newstalk ZB (2008-12-02). "Innovative World Series planned for next year". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  2. Marshall, Jane (2009-02-05). "Kiwis keen on novel netball variant". The Press. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  3. "Samoa prepares for World netball series". Samoa Observer. 2008-12-18. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
  4. ONE Sport (New Zealand) (2008-02-27). "Rule changes set to impact". TVNZ. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  5. "IFNA: World Rankings". Archived from the original on 2011-05-19. Retrieved 2008-12-22.
  6. "Netball targeting Olympic status". BBC. 2008-04-25. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  7. Australian Associated Press (2007-10-09). "Professional era coming soon: Ellis". The Age. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
  8. Johannsen, Dana (2008-03-29). "Glitz and hype turn netball into money game". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
  9. Johannsen, Dana (2009-02-05). "Innovations sure to raise eyebrows". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
  10. "Malawi Queens to play in Manchester, World Series". Nyasa Times. 2008-12-02. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
  11. Expect the unexpected at the Fast5 nz.sports.yahoo.com, 8 November 2012
  12. "Calling All Netball Fans!". IFNA. 2009-04-03. Archived from the original on 2011-03-14. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  13. "MEN Arena: History". Archived from the original on 2009-04-19. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  14. "Netball as never seen before". IFNA. 2009-01-14. Archived from the original on 2009-02-02. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  15. Kaminjolo, Singayazi (2010-11-12). "Queens leave for Liverpool on Sunday". The Nation (Malawi). Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2010-11-19.
  16. Williams, Rebecca (2009-02-05). "Game to be shortened". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
  17. Warren, Adrian (2008-12-01). "Netball to try short game format". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  18. "Silver Ferns to take part in World Netball Series". Netball New Zealand. 2009-02-05. Archived from the original on 2009-02-25. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  19. Miles, Penny (2009-03-19). "Netball changes opposed". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
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