Most men's and mixed clubs on this map began the same way: one person, a borrowed ball, and a message to a few mates saying "Thursday, 7pm, are you in?". The first night is the hardest part. Everything after it is just doing it again next week.
1. Find seven people
Netball is seven a side, so seven players is enough to train and fourteen is enough to play a proper match against yourselves. You do not need fourteen to start. You need seven, and honestly five will do for a first session of drills and half-court games.
Where they come from:
- Your own circle first. Housemates, workmates, teammates from another sport, partners and their friends. Ask people directly and by name. "Anyone keen?" in a group chat gets silence; "Sam, you would be a good defender, Thursday 7pm?" gets a yes.
- People already playing. Women's clubs and mixed socials nearby are full of people whose brother, boyfriend or dad has been told for years he would enjoy it. Ask a local club if you can put a note up or say a few words after their game.
- Other sports' off-season. Basketball, football and touch players pick netball up fast and are often looking for something in their off-season.
- The map. Once you are listed here (step 7), players searching your area will find you. Some of the busiest clubs listed grew mostly from people who searched and turned up.
Say this, not that
- "Social, no experience needed, we will teach you the footwork on the night." Not "looking for experienced players".
- "Come once and see." Not "commit to the season".
- "Mixed" if you can. A mixed night is easier to fill than a men's-only night in most places, and men's teams often grow out of a mixed club later.
2. Find a court
You need one netball court for an hour. That is it. Options, roughly in order of how easy they are:
- Council or community sports centres. Most have indoor multi-sport courts with netball lines and hire them by the hour. Weeknight slots after 8pm are usually the cheapest and most available.
- School gyms and outdoor courts. Many schools hire their courts after hours. Ask the front office who handles facility hire.
- Existing netball centres. If there is a netball association nearby, it probably has courts sitting empty on the nights its own competitions are not running. This is also the quickest way to meet the people who run netball locally.
- Outdoor public courts. Free, and fine for a first session. Bring your own posts if the rings are missing, or just play with a marked target on the ground and fix the goals later.
Split the hire between whoever turns up. A typical court hour costs about the same as a round of coffees, so at seven people it is usually a few dollars each. Collect it on the night or by bank transfer, and be transparent about it.
3. Pick a night and a format
- Same night, same time, every week. Consistency matters more than the particular night. People plan around a fixed slot; they forget a moving one.
- Start with training and games, not a league. An hour of warm-up, a couple of drills, then a game to finish. Once you have fourteen regulars you can think about entering a local competition.
- Modified rules are fine. Shorter quarters, fewer players a side, playing without positions for the first few weeks so everyone learns the whole court. Nobody is checking.
- Standard rules, when you want them: seven a side, four quarters (often 15 minutes at club level), footwork, obstruction and contact rules, and positional zones. Your national body publishes the rules and coaching material free online; they are the source, not this page.
4. Kit
What you actually need
- A ball. A size 5 netball is the adult ball. Two is better than one.
- Bibs. A set of seven positional bibs (GS, GA, WA, C, WD, GD, GK), ideally two sets in different colours so you can play a game. Cheap, and often the only thing a new club buys.
- Goal posts. Usually part of the court hire. Check before your first night.
- Non-marking shoes. Tell people to bring indoor shoes if the venue requires them. This is the most common reason a first-timer gets turned away at the door.
You do not need uniforms, a logo, a website or a bank account to start. Those come later, if you want them.
5. Affiliation and insurance
Almost every country with organised netball has a national body, and most have state, regional or county bodies under it. Affiliating your club or registering your players with them usually gives you:
- personal accident insurance for players and public liability cover for the club, which some venues require before they will hire to you;
- entry into local competitions and, for men's and mixed, the state or national pathway where one exists;
- umpire and coach courses, rules, and someone to call when you have a question.
Fees and requirements vary a lot by country, so check with your national or regional body rather than taking this page's word for it. For men's and mixed specifically, some countries have a dedicated body (Australia's men's and mixed association, for example) alongside the national federation. Ask both. You do not have to affiliate to hold a first session, but do it before you enter a competition or take money from members for a season.
6. Run the first session
A first hour that works
- 0 to 5 min. Names. A circle, names, who has played before. Say out loud that it is a social night and nobody will be judged.
- 5 to 15 min. Warm-up with the ball. Passing in pairs on the move, then in threes. Chest pass, shoulder pass, bounce pass. Keep it moving; standing still is when beginners get nervous.
- 15 to 30 min. The two rules that matter. Footwork (land, then pivot on the first foot) and three seconds to pass. Play a keep-away game where the only rules are those two. Everything else can wait a week.
- 30 to 40 min. Shooting. Everyone, not just the tall ones. It is the part people remember.
- 40 to 60 min. A game. Full court if you have the numbers, half court if you do not. Rotate positions every few minutes so everyone touches the ball. Do not keep score, or keep it loudly and badly.
Before people leave, say next week's time out loud and ask everyone to bring one person. That single sentence does more for a new club than any poster.
7. Tell people
- List the club on this map. It is free, takes two minutes, and puts you in front of everyone who searches your area. Tick "beginners welcome" and "drop-ins welcome" if they are true; they are the two things a nervous first-timer looks for. How to list your club.
- Use "Bring a mate". Every listing on the map has a ready-written invite your players can text to a friend. Word of mouth is the only marketing that works for this.
- One place to find you. A Facebook group, a WhatsApp community or a simple page, wherever your players already are. Put the night, time, venue and cost on it, and keep it current.
- Tell the local netball association. They get asked "is there a men's team?" and would love to have an answer.
Things that quietly kill new clubs
- Cancelling when numbers are low. Run the session with four. The people who came need to know it is reliable.
- One person doing everything. Hand out jobs early: someone books the court, someone collects money, someone runs the warm-up.
- Getting competitive too soon. The first-timers are your growth. Protect the social night even after you have a competition team.
- Not saying "beginners welcome". Say it everywhere, then mean it on the night.
If you start something, add it to the map, even before it feels like a real club. The empty space on the map is where the next player is looking. Good luck, and tell us how it goes.