Case Study: National Sports Leagues (DP IB Geography)

Revision Note

National Sports Team

  • Netball is played with two teams of seven players on each side

  • Worldwide, the game is played in 80 countries and has over 20 million players

  • Recognised as an Olympic Sport in 1995

  • Netball was introduced in Australia in 1897

  • Netball is the most popular women's sport in Australia

    • Over 1 million players play netball nationwide

  • Founding members of the game were New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia in 1927

  • Tasmania joined national tournaments in 1933, the Australian Capital Territory in 1975 and the Northern Territory in 1977

  • The organisation became officially known as Netball Australia in 1993 

  • The organisation has a governing body which has representatives from every state and territory in Australia

  • The National Domestic League in Australia is called Suncorp Super Netball

    • Eight teams make up the Super League: Thunderbirds, Giants, Mavericks, Vixens, Swifts, Firebirds, Lightning and Fever

    • This league replaced the ANZ Championship, which previously included New Zealand in 2017

    • Lightning won the first league title in 2017 and the following year

    • Collingwood Magpies were also a member of the league but withdrew due to a lack of financing in 2023

    • The season begins in March and ends in July

  • The average salary for a player in this league is $89,221 

Location & Distribution of National Sport Team Supporters

  • Supporters are largely drawn from each of the States

  • When supporters move away to university or for a job, this may extend the sphere of influence

  • In 2023, over 265,000 fans attended a match during the home and away season

  • Games are televised for people who are not able to afford a ticket to enter or travel to a match

  • Games are televised on sports stations around the world or on YouTube

  • More teams are located in the east of Australia

  • This reflects the location of the main urban areas in Australia

Map of Australia showing netball teams: Queensland Firebirds, Sunshine Coast Lightning, Adelaide Thunderbirds, Melbourne Vixens, Saracen Mavericks, NSW Swifts, and Giants.
Map showing location of main netball teams in Australia

Netball Venues in Australia

Team

Venue

State

Capacity

Swifts

Sydney Super Dome

New South Wales

18000

Fever

Perth Arena

Perth

14500

Melbourne Vixens

John Cain Arena

Victoria

10500

Melbourne Mavericks

John Cain Arena

Victoria

10500

Thunderbirds

Adelaide Entertainment Center

South Australia

9600

Giants

Ken Rosewall Arena

New South Wales

10000

Lightning

UniSC Arena

Queensland

3000

Firebirds

Queensland State Netball Centre

Queensland

5000

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Briley Habib

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Briley is an experienced Head of Geography. With more than 16 years of teaching experience, Briley was awarded a PGCE from the University of Lancaster and has a degree in European Studies and Human Geography. Briley has worked in a range of schools around the world and has experience of teaching at all levels. Briley is a member of the Geographical Association’s special interest group on diversity and inclusion. She has also written articles for the Teaching Geography Journal, a book chapter on Place-Based Education and a report on Decolonising IB Geography.

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