Boys team in female netball comp: Has inclusion gone too far?

Honestly, Netball Queensland – what on earth were you thinking with this out-of-bounds shocker that does the male and female sides no favours? Writes Ann Wason Moore

TALK about an own goal.

Netball Queensland’s decision to promote ‘inclusion’ and ‘equality’ by allowing a sole all-boys team to compete (and dominate) against all-female teams at the under-18 state finals in Brisbane is one for the records – listed under the heading of ‘bad call’.

That’s not because this decision denied our Bond University Bull Sharks a state title, it’s not because boys and girls can’t compete together, it’s not even because the boys’ blitz provoked some truly unsportsmanlike behaviour from parents.

Nope, it’s because Netball Queensland allowed, even promoted, a most un-level playing field.

The truth is the all-female teams never had a hope against the Queensland Suns all-boys side … but it’s nothing to do with a battle between the sexes.

A sole all-boys netball team was allowed to compete against all-female teams at the under-18 state finals. Photo: Instagram / netballqueensland

BOYS HIT BACK AFTER NETBALL FURORE ERUPTS

Rather than gender, the biggest difference between the teams was that the boys were a state team and the girls were regional. These two levels should never have been competing together, no matter their sex.

The Suns, who do not have a state championships of their own due to player numbers, competed last year as an invitational side but were given full status this year and able to compete for the regional title.

The move angered players, officials and parents, who in many cases paid out hundreds of dollars for their daughters to attend the tournament.

But it seems Netball Queensland has its own agenda … or a-gender.

Indeed, NQ CEO Catherine Clark said the organisation stood by its decision.

“We stand by the decision to choose inclusion over exclusion. To accept a request from the Queensland Suns to play given they have nowhere else to play,” Ms Clark said.

“Let’s judge the decision in 12 months’ time and see how many boys and men’s teams we have - because if you can’t see it, you can’t be it. We encourage everyone that entered a team this year to enter a boys or men’s team next year – all boys want is to be afforded an opportunity to play.”

Netball Queensland CEO Catherine Clark. Picture: Mark Cranitch.

That’s a very admirable statement and I absolutely support the encouragement of boys to play netball, just as I barrack for girls to play footy, but this statement just has me offside.

Basically, Ms Clark has sacrificed every regional girls team to enable the state-level boys an opportunity to play. But what about the girls’ right to compete on the aforementioned level playing field?

I feel for the Queensland Suns boys side, it’s absolutely a shame that they don’t have their own comp, but if Netball Queensland really want to grow the boys game then they need to do the hard yards … not just parachute a state team into a regional competition.

Look at the AFLW or NRLW, those women have watched and waited for the competition to grow, for their home cities or states to front a team they could join … they weren’t just dropped into the men’s comp.

Of course, being a contact sport, that would be a physically risky move … but Netball Queensland has potentially damaged the body of its own sport.

Indeed, Bond University head of netball Stuart Allen said it was disappointing the club’s women had such a strong tournament and finished it being soundly beaten in a “mismatch”.

“I think most people would regard it as a mismatch — and that’s no fault of the boys,” he said.

“We’d have probably preferred if Netball Queensland had said to us: ‘We’re really trying to grow the boys’ sport and we want you to try and get a boys team together so we can have a four or six-team regional competition’.

“Even if we could only get two of those teams but they were genuine regional teams, they would have been better placed to compete as full members of the competition as opposed to a state team.”

Allen said Bond’s women “would and have and do” play against men at training.

“That’s an accepted part of training, it hasn’t to date been an accepted part of competition.”

By promoting so-called equality through the practice of inequality, NQ has set back the cause for the boys.

Rather than seeing this as a story of a state team blitzing regional teams, the takeaway for most people seems to be that the boys smashed the girls - so now they’re blowing the whistle on mixed competitions.

Instead of promoting the inclusion of boys in netball, what is the end result of this mismatched game? The public would prefer their exclusion, the boys in question have been abused by parents on the sidelines and although they won the championship, it must surely feel like a hollow victory.

With all of this furore, how many boys will now seek to participate in a similar experience?

As the gender gap grows ever narrower, the rules of fair play are more important than ever. And this call was, quite simply, out of bounds.

Originally published as Boys team in female netball comp: Has inclusion gone too far?