In 1891, while working at the School for Christian Workers (later the YMCA) in Springfield, Massachusetts, James Naismith was faced with the problem of finding a sport to amuse 18 young men, indoors, during the Massachusetts winter. Basketball was born... initially being played with a soccer ball and two peach baskets used as goals, with 9 players per side - three forwards, three centres and three guards.

When Clara Baer, a sports teacher in New Orleans, wrote to Naismith asking for a copy of the rules, the subsequent rules package contained a drawing of the court with lines pencilled across it, simply to show the areas various players could best patrol. But Baer misinterpreted the lines and thought players couldn't leave those areas. In 1899 her mistake was ratified into the rules of women's basketball as zones. Later, in 1895, Basketball was introduced to Britain, when Dr. Toles, an American lecturer at Madame Ostenburg's College, taught the game to his students.

The original raised targets at each end of the court were replaced by wastepaper baskets, with the aim being to get the ball into the opposing basket.

By 1900 the first set of rules had been set out by the Physical Education Association and the game was introduced to schools by the teachers who had played the game during training.

In 1926 a meeting of schools, clubs, and adult organisations resulted in the formation of The All England Women's Netball Association, changing its name in 1935 to the All England Women’s Association for Net Ball and other hand Ball games. Finally in 1944 it became the All England Netball Association.

The first international netball matches were in 1949, when England played Scotland and Wales, and won both matches 25-3. England also participated in an exhibition match against a Rest of the World team at Empire Pool, Wembley, London, in 1957.

During an Australian tour of England in 1957, discussions took place concerning standardising the rules of the sport and this led to representatives from England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and The West Indies meeting in Sri Lanka in 1960, to establish The International Federation of Women's Basketball and Netball. This later became the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA). Until then 5-a-side and 9-a-side versions of the game co-existed with the present 7-a-side format. The rules of international netball were established, and the World Tournament, which later became the World Championships, was first held at Eastbourne, England, in 1963 where Australia became the first champions. The most popular women's sport in Australia, the game there was called Women's Basketball until 1970.

Since then World Championships have been held in Australia 1967, Jamaica 1971, New Zealand 1975, Trinidad & Tobago 1979, Singapore 1983, Scotland 1987, Australia 1991, England 1995 and New Zealand 1999. Throughout this period, Australia has dominated, winning the event in 1971, 1975, 1979, 1983, 1991, 1995 and 1999.

A demonstration at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in New Zealand raised awareness of the game, which is now beginning to be played in countries such as China, Japan, the United States, and other parts of Europe, along with the already established playing traditions in other Commonwealth countries such as Canada, India, Malaysia, and the West Indies.

Netball was included in the Commonwealth Games programme, for the first time, in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, where Australia took Gold medal, New Zealand Silver and England Bronze. Netball will also feature at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, where IFNA is seeking to negotiate for a greater number of teams to participate.

• The game was introduced to New Zealand in 1906 by the Rev J C Jamieson.
• In 1995 Netball became a "recognized" Olympic sport and looks forwards to programmed status.
• Internationally netball is played in approximately 50 countries, forty five of which are affiliated with the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA).