Women started playing netball in India as early as 1926. The

Sports Authority of India The Sports Authority of India, SAI, was set up in 1984 to carry forward the legacy of the 1982 Asian Games held in New Delhi under the Department of Sports. SAl has been entrusted with promoting sport in India and achieving sporting excellen ...

and the Government of India have provided much funding with the goal of improving the performance of the country's youth national team. The

Netball Federation of India Netball Federation of India (NFI) is the national governing body of Netball in India. NFI is a non-profit, government funded organisation affiliated with the International Netball Federation (INF), the Asian Federation of Netball Association (AF ...

was established in 1978 by Jagat Singh Chouhan from

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

, an alumnus of

YMCA College of Physical Education YMCA College of Physical Education, the first college for physical education of Asia, was established in 1920 by Harry Crowe Buck of Pennsylvania, United States. The college is now affiliated with the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports ...

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

, and that year he organised the first national championships in

Jind Jind is one of the largest and oldest cities in Jind district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is the administrative headquarter of Jind district. Rani Talab is the main destination for tourists while Pandu Pindara and Ramrai are the ma ...

with great contribution of Shashi Prabha. Chouhan was founder/father of

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

, netball and

throwball Throwball is a non-contact ball sport played across a net between two teams of seven players on a rectangular court. Throwball is popular in Asia, especially on the Indian subcontinent, and was first played in India as a women's sport in Chenn ...

in India. His efforts in Germany during the

1972 Munich Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

helped in making these a legacy in India. The

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

competed in the fifth

Asian Netball Championships The Asian Netball Championship is a netball competition held every two years with teams from across Asia competing. First 7 editions were held every four years, then changed to every two years starting from 2012. Sri Lanka is the reigning champi ...

in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2001. Team captains included

Prachi Tehlan Prachi Tehlan (born 2 October 1993) is an Indian actress and former netball and basketball player. Prachi is the former captain of the India national netball team which represented India in the 2010 Commonwealth Games and in other major Asian C ...

, who captained the side that competed in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. Some of the important netball competitions held in India include: * The

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

* The 7th

Asian Youth Netball Championship The Asian Youth Netball Championship is regarded as the pinnacle netball tournament for the under-21 age group in the Asian Region. The Championship is a 7-day event held every 2 years in different countries across the region. Malaysia are the cu ...

, held from 3 to 10 July 2010, at the

Thyagaraj Stadium The Thyagaraj Sport Complex is a sports stadium in New Delhi, India. It is owned by the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi and was built at the cost of . It was designed by leading architects PTM of Australia and Kapoor & Ass ...

. Some of the top performances for the India national netball team include: * 2010 Nations Cup: Sixth place * 2010 Asian Youth Netball Championship: Fourth *

2011 South Asian Beach Games The 1st South Asian Beach Games was held in Hambantota, Sri Lanka between 8 and 14 October 2011. The opening ceremony was held at the Hambantota Beach Stadium, located in Hambantota district. 359 athletes from eight South Asian nations were comp ...

: Silver medal

References

Bibliography

* * * * * *

External links

Olympic Council of AsiaNetball Federation of India
{{DEFAULTSORT:Netball in India