Netball Players Hoping To Take Game To Olympic Level
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork)-- Have you ever heard of netball? It's a women's sport played by club teams in our area and even across the world.
Now one local team is hoping to get the game to an Olympic level.
"It's similar to volleyball and ultimate frisbee," one player told CBS2's Magdalena Doris.
It's almost like basketball, the goal is to get the ball into the net without using a backboard.
"You can't move with the ball, you can't dribble with the ball," another player said. "You only have three seconds with the ball whether you are passing or shooting."
While you won't find the all women's sport in American schools, it actually originated in the states more than a century ago.
"It's the largest women's team sport in the world played by over 20 million women around the globe," Ilze Gideons, a netball team coach, said.
The sport traveled throughout the world and gained popularity. Now ex-pats who make up the United States University netball team want to see the game grow by teaching girls from New York the sport they grew up playing.
Emily Males played in England before moving back to New Jersey.
"If I was moving, I was playing netball here," she said.
This year, the U.S. is hosting the World University Netball Championships in Miami, a big break for the sport stateside.
"This is the step or the opportunity for us to get into the Olympics," Gideons said.
The team needs women to pick up a netball and give it a shot.
"We need four more girls to come play!" Nthabiseng Mushi said.
If this upcoming tournament goes well, the United States University netball team sees a golden future.
"The U.S. is gonna dominate and once they dominate everything is going to go up high," Mushi said.
And in turn, a bright future for American players to come.
