Netball New Zealand marks an historic milestone celebrating 100 years of the game. In 1924 the game, originally called Women’s Basketball, was renamed in 1970.
The seven-a-side game is also a very popular sport across the Pacific, where many netball legends donned bibs for the Silver Ferns and Australian Diamonds.
Now that netball has entered the professional arena, players are now choosing to play for their heritage. This was evident in the Netball World Cup held in Cape Town in 2023.
The Tonga National Netball team competed in the event for the first time since 1999 and are now renamed the Tonga Tala.
With stand-out moments in the competition most notably beating Scotland 55-47, the Tala’s now sit at number eight in the Netball world ranking.
To celebrate the milestone, we take a look at the Netball World Cup 1999 in Christchurch.
The current Netball World Ranking to date:
Tonga Talas WR 8
Fijian Pearls WR 15
Samoa WR 17
Cook Islands WR 33
