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A documentary looking at the development of netball in New Zealand from grass paddocks to world champions. (Written and produced by Margaret Henley and narrated by Kim Hill. Theme music by Uno Duo.)
Women discuss the growth and success of netball in New Zealand, following the New Zealand victory in the 1987 world championships.
Joan Durbin, secretary of the Auckland Netball Association has been involved in the sport for 57 years, and recalls playing in nine-a-side teams. Lois Fowler remembers much smaller courts. Phoebe Meikle, Auckland rep 1929-1934 remembers playing against Australia and having to play seven-a-side, which New Zealand officially switched to in 1960.
In the 1970s the numbers playing the sport rose significantly. Former netballers Marj Jenden, Jean Roundtree and Lois Fowler comment on different aspects of teh game inthe past, including the difficulty of playing and still working fulltime, and paying their own gym membership fees for training.
National coach Lois Muir talks about the need for greater recognition and funding for players. She says the Australian team gets $40,000 per annum from the government.
Administrator Yvonne Willering says players should be compensated for loss of wages during tours but she doesn't want to see professionalism taking over.
Panmure's coach Marlene Flavell and Netball Association President Ann Taylor also comment on the issues around funding and professionalism.
Marion Smith, North Shore vice-president talks about the need to set up a trust fund to compensate players.
Joan Durbin talks about the grassroots players needing support also.
Swiss Maid is now sponsoring a national league. Cheryl Wells and Marlene Flavell comment on the impact of sponsorship.
These games are also being televised.
Sue Rope and Ann Taylor talk about the volunteers who fundraise to support the game. Marjorie Jenden is not happy with the change from an amateur system and says she stopped volunteering as the game became more professional.
Lindsay Singleton of Harvard Sports Marketing speaks about why the game is now attracting sponsorship.
Phoebe Meikle comments on media coverage in the 1930s. She says some of the players in her national team should have been household names- and would have been, had they been rugby players.
A study in 1984 found rugby received 427 times more media coverage than netball - even though both had similar numbers of players.
Sports broadcaster Pat McElvey talks about media coverage of women's sports.
National netball captain Leigh Gibbs talks about the pressure on women with children to stop playing due to family demands - something fathers do not have to contend with.
Many young women stop playing as the get older. June Mariu says this is especially true of Māori women, and she would like to see a Māori netball league set up to help Māori health outcomes.
Umpire Dawn Jones talks about developments in the international scene - including the rise of korfball in Europe.
Lois Muir talks about netball's Olympic potential - saying the game needs to expand into Europe first.