Young, aspiring, determined and talented Pakistani girls’ netball team coached by leading South African Amanda Mynhardt, won the Asian Youth Girls Netball Championship, defeating high ranking Maldives team by 60 points to 35 in a thrilling final, at Jeonju Hwasan Gymnasium in South Korea on 04 July 2025.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in separate messages congratulated the young girls’ netball team recognising their outstanding performance.
The absence of broad based participation by the girls in the game of netball within the country was the biggest impediment in the development of game, said Zafar Iqbal Awan who is the Patron in Chief and the main driving force behind the development of netball in Pakistan.
Zafar said that innovative strategies were adopted to train the team on war footings. He highly praised the efforts of Netball Federation President Mudassar Razak Arain, Secretary Muhammad Riaz and Coach Amanda who played pivotal role in developing the team by mobilising and integrating all possible resources to churn out a winning combination.
The team management specially hailed the efforts and skills of Alisha Naveed, Summayya Kouser, Leya Raza Shah, Haleena, Jasmine Farooq, Alina, Amani, Parisa and Farah who played outstanding offensive and defensive game against the opponents and remain undefeated in all its encounters.
Although Netball is quite identical to basketball in terms of agility, good team work, shooting skills, presence of mind, correct court positioning and resolute defense but it is essentially a non-contact sport played on a slightly longer than a basketball court.
When Dr Naismith invented basketball in 1891 in USA, it is unlikely that he realized that he had also given birth to netball which over a period of time will become the most popular women’s sport in Australia, Sri Lanka, UK, and New Zealand.
The students of Madame Osterberg’s College of Physical Training at Hampstead, UK, modified the then known women’s basketball and thus introduced the present shape of netball in 1895.
The court measures 30.5 meters or 100 feet long and 15.25 meter or 50 feet wide. The court is divided by lines, called transverse lines, into even thirds: two goal thirds and a center third. The center third has a center circle which is 4.9 meters or 16 feet in radius and a goalpost on the goal line.
The second attacker of the team is called the Wing Attack who should possess good shooting and accurate passing skills.
The center is the third key racehorse of the team. This player is the backbone of the team who should have top physical fitness with both attacking and defensive skills and a very reliable pass to exploit the gaps within the defense of the opponent.
The defensive lineup comprises wing defense, Goal Defense and a Goal Keeper which is equally important for any netball team. One of the main reasons of Pakistan’s young girls netball team’s consistent performance in the tournament was its outstanding defense, which was shaped by its coach, who herself is a famous South African Goal Defense and a renowned Goal Keeper of international repute.
Once an extremely popular sport in women schools and colleges needs patronage at grass roots. Pakistani girls have shown their ample potential in South Korea, but a sustainable performance at the Asian and World level will only be possible if sizeable resources are allocated for the development of game at all possible levels.
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