- May 18, 2022
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I know quite a few girls who follow the Super Netball and are paid up members. And actually, the majority of SNL fans I knew were Collingwood netball fans (they had an ANL side aligned with Tasmania and visited the state annually so picked up fans looking for a side). It would have been better to become a regional netball side and appeal to non-Melbourne Victoria and Tasmania (which lacks a solid talent pathway).That’s always been a challenge discussing the netball team on here. Many folks follow the assumption that “I don’t follow netball, none of my mates follow netball, therefore nobody follows netball”
And that assumption just isn’t true.
Maybe you and your mates don’t follow line dancing either, but go onto YouTube and you’ll find line dancing videos with kazillions of views.
There is a big wide world out there of very fringe esoteric stuff that large subcultures of people somehow seem interested in. And AFL footy is definitely one of them - it just might not seem that way to you or me.
But I don't know a single boy other than myself who watched a game of Super Netball or had any interest in it. And I only followed vaguely because of Collingwood's connection and one or two friends - some pretty good afternoons were spent chilling or studying with netball. I know boys who played netball but not one of those ever watched a game, paid a membership or attended a game like they did with football. Not one of those boys went to any of the matches played in Tasmania. So it's about figuring out how to attract support to a popular participation game and branching out to attract all fans (netball is also one of the sports that has the potential for mixed teams).