The Australian National Netball Championships are a series of annual

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

tournaments, organised by

Netball Australia Netball Australia is the main governing body for netball in Australia. It is affiliated to World Netball. It is responsible for organising and administrating the Australia national netball team, Suncorp Super Netball and the Australian Nati ...

and featuring representative teams from the

states and territories of Australia The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing p ...

. The earliest tournaments took place during 1920s. Until

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, the championships featured an open tournament, as well tournaments for under-17, under-19 and under-21 teams. However, following the emergence of the

Commonwealth Bank Trophy The Commonwealth Bank Trophy, also referred to as the National Netball League, was the top level national Australian netball league between 1997 and 2007. The league was organized by Netball Australia. Its main sponsor was the Commonwealth Ba ...

league, Netball Australia decided to end the open tournament. The last under-21 tournament was played in 2016.

History

Early tournaments

The earliest Australian National Netball Championships took place during 1920s. Differing sources mean it is unclear exactly which year the tournament was first held. According to the 2005

Netball New South Wales Netball New South Wales is the governing body for netball in New South Wales. It is affiliated to Netball Australia. It is responsible for organizing and managing two elite level teams, New South Wales Swifts and Giants Netball, who compete in Su ...

annual report, New South Wales won their first title in 1926. Meanwhile, according to the

Netball Victoria Netball Victoria is the governing body for netball in Victoria, Australia. It is affiliated to Netball Australia. It is responsible for organising and managing the elite level team, Melbourne Vixens, who compete in the Suncorp Super Netball. It i ...

website, Victoria hosted and won the first official championships in

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. According to the 2004

annual report, the 2004 National Netball Championships were the 71st edition. However according to the 2005 annual report there had been eighty years of open competition.

Open

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, the open and under-21 National Netball Championships were held at

Challenge Stadium Perth Superdrome, known as HBF Stadium under a commercial naming rights arrangement, is a sports complex in Perth, Western Australia. It is home to the Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS). The venue is located in the suburb of Mount Cl ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia. According to the 2004

annual report, they were the 71st National Netball Championships. The 2004 tournament featured several members of the Australia national netball team, including

Liz Ellis Elizabeth Margaret Ellis, (born 17 January 1973) is a retired Australian netball player, a member of the national team from 1992 until 2007 and captain for the last four of those years. She is the most capped international player for Australian ...

, Catherine Cox,

Jane Altschwager Jane Altschwager (born 25 August 1980) is a former Australia netball international. During the Commonwealth Bank Trophy era, Altschwager made 81 senior appearances for Adelaide Thunderbirds, Sydney Swifts and Hunter Jaegers. Between 1999 and 2 ...

and

Mo'onia Gerrard Mo'onia Frances Gerrard (born 15 November 1980 in Bathurst, Australia) is a former Australian netball player of Tongan descent. Her netball career commenced at a very young age; she would often participate in training sessions of her mother' ...

, as well as emerging players such as Natalie Medhurst, Kimberley Smith, Joanne Sutton,

Johannah Curran Johannah Curran (born 9 December 1986) is an Australian netball player. In 2008, Curran played for the Melbourne Vixens in the ANZ Championship. Curran played for the West Coast Fever in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons. In 2012 she took a year ...

, Susan Fuhrmann and

Brooke Thompson Brooke Thompson (born 27 April 1984) is a former Australian netball player. She was a member of the Melbourne Vixens team that won the 2009 ANZ Championship. She was also a member of the Victorian Fury teams that won the 2008 and 2009 Austra ...

. In

Netball ACT Netball Australian Capital Territory is the governing body for netball in the Australian Capital Territory. It is affiliated to Netball Australia. It is responsible for organizing and managing the association's representative teams including Cap ...

hosted the final open championships in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. Following the emergence of the

league, Netball Australia decided to end the open tournament.

Grand finals

;Notes *

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

shared the 1956 title. *

and

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

shared the 1976 title. *

and

shared the 1979 title. * The 2001 tournament was cancelled due to the Ansett collapse

Under-21

Grand finals

Tournament MVP

;Notes * The 2001 tournament was cancelled due to the Ansett collapse * The 2007 Netball Australia Annual Report gives the final score as 61–36 while the 2007 Netball NSW Annual Report gives it as 36–21. *

April Letton April Brandley (née Letton; born 19 April 1990) is a professional Australian netball player in the Suncorp Super Netball league. She plays in the positions of GK, GD and WD, and has been selected on several occasions for the Australia natio ...

and Chanel Gomes shared the 2010 Under-21 Tournament MVP award.

Under-19

Grand finals

Tournament MVP

Under-17

Grand finals

Tournament MVP

;Notes * The 2020 and 2021 tournaments were cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in Australia was identified on 25 Januar ...

Main sponsors

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Netball Netball competitions in Australia National championships in Australia Under-21 sport Under-19 sport Under-17 sport