Isidore discusses netball development in Seychelles in South Africa |08 August 2023

Seychelles Netball Association chairperson Dorothy Isidore (Photo: Contributed)

Chairperson of the Seychelles Netball Association, Dorothy Isidore, has met with other heads of associations to discuss netball development in Seychelles.

This was while she was in South Africa for the Netball World Cup 2023.

In an interview with Sports NATION, the chair of the Seychelles Netball Association stated that there have been amendments in the rules and regulations of the sport.

During the two-day congress in Cape Town, Dame Liz Nicholl was re-elected as World Netball’s president. Britain's Nicholl was awarded Damehood for services to sport in the recent King's Birthday Honours List.

First elected World Netball president in 2019, the 70-year-old played a vital role in the development of the World Netball strategic plan ‘To Grow, to Play and to Inspire’. She has been a pioneer of the sport, first serving as England Netball chief executive in 1980.

Dame Liz Nicholl was instrumental as netball made its Commonwealth Games debut at Kuala Lumpur 1998. The former Welsh international has also worked for UK Sport, serving as its chief executive from 2010 to 2019.

Former England player Stacey Francis-Bayman has been appointed as the first athlete director of World Netball. Suri Bartlett has been appointed as an 'independent' finance director with Catherine Lewis set to continue for a second term as World Netball membership representative on the nominations committee.

Dr Bridget Adams (World Netball Americas) and Victoria Lakshmi (World Netball Asia) are newly elected directors. Europe Netball will be led by Lyn Carpenter for a second four-year term and she will be joined by Wainikiti Bogidrau, who was also re-elected by Oceania Netball.

The latest changes to the board will take effect after the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town and Isidore used the opportunity to watch matches and analyse how far behind Seychelles lags. The tournament ended on Sunday August 6 with world number one Australia remaining the undisputed champions of world netball by beating England 61-45 in the final in Cape Town to claim their 12th crown.

It was the Diamonds’ ninth consecutive appearance in a World Cup final and England’s first time contesting for the title.

Elevating netball in Seychelles

Ms Isidore also mentioned that they met with the Africa Netball committee and discussed opportunities for referees’ courses in an effort to elevate the level of the game locally.

Seychelles currently has no national netball team and Ms Isidore stated that they are in the process of crafting a future national squad, but this will come through a development programme for the youths as she wants to have a strong and successful national team.

“I think we can develop netball in Seychelles just like it has been done in other African countries. We would like to reach the World Cup but before that we have to play in the qualifiers. We have quite some work to do even before we can reach the qualifiers,” said Ms Isidore.

In its quest to attract more young female players, the Seychelles Netball Association will be launching its first inter-school netball league this September.

“We have noticed that netball is not so popular and therefore it has not been getting a lot of visibility in the media. This is why the association saw it necessary to introduce netball in the curriculum to gauge the kids’ interest for the sport,” said Ms Isidore.

According to the local netball association chairperson, the league will also help them identify and recruit young players to join netball. On August 19, 2023, the Seychelles Netball Association will be engaging with primary pupils on the fundamentals of the sport.

“We have a handful of physical education teachers who are ready and committed to help us reach out to the kids,” said Ms Isidore, who added that players should be empowered more in sports and recruit younger players.

Ms Isidore took the opportunity to thank their sponsors, namely the Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (Socga) with grants received to buy equipment such as adjustable posts and uniforms, and the Mohan group for sponsoring the netball league over the years.

Ms Isidore noted that more needs to be done to raise the level of sports in the country and she added that they aim to break the stigma that netball is for seniors only.

This will be done through their development programme and the association will be hosting the Praslin Open to end the season with a bang.

Ms Isidore has been the SNA chairperson for 12 years and is a veteran of the game.

Rule changes

A key rule change which will be implemented following a successful two-year trial period relates to substitutions which will be allowed at any time during the match. Netballers will also see an overhaul of game management rules, with greater consequences for individuals playing outside of the rules of the game. This change will see ‘cautions’ removed, allowing umpires to give pro-active advice before escalation to a warning or a suspension, before finally ordering a player off court should further action be required.

Under the new rules, umpires will be able to advance a sanction up to a third of the court and escalate a free pass to a penalty pass if required.

Following an increase in contact calls in elite netball, some key revisions have also been made looking specifically at dangerous play by interference with an opposing player, causing contact on a player in the air and contact with the head or neck.

Additions to what will now be considered dangerous play include “tunnelling” an airborne opponent in a way that puts their landing at risk or causing contact by moving into or failing to yield a landing place.

The advantage rule has also been adapted to allow the game to flow without compromising control or player safety.

Other rule changes affect a new definition of the short pass rule, scoring a goal in the closing seconds of play, and a new process for simultaneous infringements.

An updated rules book, app and further educational resources will be created and shared with members, and the wider netball family, ahead of the new rules being implemented for international matches from January 1, 2024.

Member countries may plan their implementation date up to September 1, 2024 for domestic competitions.

Compiled by Neil Sirame