Netball Australia ditches mandatory dresses to reduce barriers and better protect players

The traditional netball dress may become a relic of the past after the national governing body, Netball Australia, released more inclusive uniform guidelines that will come into effect in 2023. Previous barriers to entry to the sport have been reduced with the new policy document, which aims to recognise the various individual preferences and religious beliefs of players.

Dresses remain an option but from 1 January, players can choose from other options including singlets, bodysuits, short sleeve or long sleeve shirts, skirts, shorts and long pants – in any combination. It is also “perfectly acceptable” for head coverings to be worn, the guidelines state, although each uniform choice must still be submitted to and ratified by member associations, all eight of which in Australia have adopted the new rules.

“Players are not required to justify their choice of uniform; however, players may be required to provide information pertaining to items they wish to wear in order to allow the club or association to facilitate that uniform choice,” the revised guidelines state.

The move also aims to combat shivering winter mornings or blazing hot summer days on court with the uniform choices available aimed to protect players from the elements – an area of increasing concern given the changing weather patterns due to the climate crisis.

The rules will apply from the bottom up, with all participants of the sport from the community level to Super Netball offered a wider choice of apparel. Next year’s Super Netball preseason tournament, the Team Girls Cup, will offer professional clubs a first opportunity to introduce the new options for players.

“Netball is ever-evolving, and we need to reflect this in all aspects of our game, including uniform choices,” Netball Australia’s executive general manager Glenn Turnor said. “This process has been a joint effort with our member organisations, their boards and their chief executive officers, whereby we collectively identified barriers to be removed from netball.

“We are excited to implement these inclusive uniform guidelines going into 2023 and ensure that everyone can feel comfortable playing netball. The guidelines have been adopted by all member organisations, meaning all participating netball bodies will be united by the same national guidelines.”

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The move comes after NSW Netball led a push last year to review uniform guidelines following Netball Australia’s “State of the Game” review in 2020 that highlighted existing uniform options presented barriers to many wanting to take up or continue playing the game.