The Harrison Hoist, also known as the Chairlift, is a form of

goaltending Goaltending is a violation of the rules in the sport of basketball. It consists of certain forms of player interference with the ball while it is on its way to the basket. It is goaltending if a player touches the ball when it is (a) in downwar ...

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 ...

where one defender lifts another defender, rugby union lineout-style, in order to catch the ball and prevent a goal scoring opportunity. It was named after

Anna Harrison Anna Tuthill Harrison ( ''née'' Symmes; July 25, 1775 – February 25, 1864) was the first Lady of the United States in 1841 as the wife of President William Henry Harrison. She served in the role for only one month, as her husband was afflicted ...

who completed the move successfully on 20 May 2012 while playing for

Northern Mystics Northern Mystics are a New Zealand netball team based in Auckland. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Northern in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Northern is the governing body t ...

in a 2012 ANZ Championship Round 8 match against

Melbourne Vixens Melbourne Vixens is an Australian netball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Victoria in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. The team was formed in 2007 wh ...

. According to Netball Australia,

Christine Stanton Christine Frances "Chris" Stanton (née Annison, born 12 December 1959) is a retired high jumper from Australia. She set her personal best on 26 January 1985, jumping 1.96 metres at a meet in Adelaide, South Australia. An eight-time national cham ...

also performed the move during the 1970s.

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

performed a similar move, known as the Lion Dance Lift, during a

2011 World Netball Championships The 2011 World Netball Championships was the 13th edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball. It was held in Singapore from 3–10 July. All 48 matches were played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Sin ...

match against Sri Lanka.

History

Christine Stanton

Following

's successful performance of the technique, Netball Australia declared that

had performed the move during the 1970s. Stanton represented

Australia at the Summer Olympics Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by a ...

as a high jumper.

Lion Dance Lift

On 8 July 2011, during a

match between

and Sri Lanka, Singapore, whose tallest defender was 1.7 m, devised a strategy to defend against the 2.08 m

Tharjini Sivalingam Tharjini Sivalingam (born 30 December 1978) is a former Sri Lankan veteran netball player and former skipper of the Sri Lankan national netball team. With her staggering height of 206 cm or a fraction under 6 ft 9in, she has been reco ...

. In the fourth quarter, the goal defender, Lin Qingyi, was lifted by the goal keeper, Premila Hirubalan, in an attempt to intercept the ball before it got to Sivalingam. Sivalingam still managed to score 60 goals as she helped Sri Lanka win 62–51. However, when the same two teams met in the 2009 Asian Netball Championships final, Sri Lanka had won by the greater margin of 77–48.

2012 ANZ Championship

On 20 May 2012 while playing for

in a 2012 ANZ Championship Round 8 match against

made several vital blocks while being hoisted rugby union lineout-style by her defensive partners. Harrison was lifted first by

Kayla Cullen Kayla Malvina Johnson (née Cullen, born 13 February 1992) is a New Zealand netball player. As a high school student, Cullen played representative netball and basketball, and competed at a national level in athletics. In 2008, she was selected i ...

and then twice in the final quarter by Jessica Moulds. Mystics won the match 49–45. Cullen and Moulds adopted the role of a lineout lifter to hoist Harrison and the move had the desired result in the final quarter when Vixens goal shooter Karyn Howarth's goal-bound shots were twice batted away. Mystics coach,

Debbie Fuller Deborah Lynne Fuller (born 24 June 1966) is a former competition diver who represented Canada at two consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1984. She won a bronze medal at the 1987 Pan American Games in and two gold medals at the 1986 Common ...

reluctantly claimed ownership of the innovation, adding that her defenders and skills coach, Jason Gregory, had also had input. Fuller discussed her idea with umpires in both Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

who confirmed the move was legal. Vixens captain and defender,

Bianca Chatfield Bianca Chatfield (born 2 April 1982) is a former Australia netball international. Between 2001 and 2014 she made 59 senior appearances for Australia. Chatfield was a member of the Australia teams that won the gold medals at the 2007 World Netb ...

had no issue with the manoeuvre and declared, "I loved it. As a defender you are always trying to be so creative ... it was just awesome for them to be able to do that." She also said that both Vixens and Australia had experimented with a similar tactic but had not been able to perfect it. The technique was initially referred to by several names, including the ''Chairlift'', the ''Lineout Lift'' and the ''Scarlett Skylift'', before becoming known as the ''Harrison Hoist''. Mystics initially referred to the move as ''The Cheer-Lift'' as it was partly inspired by

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

lifts. It drew comparisons with the rugby union lineout and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

. The move had been months in planning and had been practiced by Mystics for four weeks behind closed doors in training. It was originally planned to be implemented in the playoffs. However, Fuller, thinking a playoff place was not certain, decided to unveil it against Vixens. Harrison's physique and previous experience as a beach volleyball player helped Fuller come up with the idea to use the move. Dawn Jones, the chair of the

International Federation of Netball Associations World Netball, previously known as the International Netball Federation and the International Federation of Netball Associations, is the worldwide governing body for Netball. The INF was created in 1960 and is responsible for world rankings, m ...

match officials panel, speaking on behalf of

Netball New Zealand Netball New Zealand is the national body which oversees, promotes and manages netball in New Zealand, including the Silver Ferns. In 2019, 137,713 players were registered with Netball New Zealand, the governing body for organised netball in the co ...

, confirmed the move was legal.

Other attempts

On 10 November 2012,

again used the technique while playing for

against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

during the 2012 Fast5 Netball World Series.

Kate Shimmin Kate Walsh (née Shimmin; born in 1992) is an Australian netball player in the Suncorp Super Netball league, playing for the Sunshine Coast Lightning. In August 2019, Jess Thirlby the new England Roses Coach announced Shimmin would join the ...

, Jane Watson, Sulu Tone-Fitzpatrick,

Katrina Grant Katrina Rore ( née Grant; born 6 May 1987 in Papakura, Auckland, New Zealand) is a New Zealand international netball player. Rore is the current vice-captain of the New Zealand national netball team, the Silver Ferns, and plays for the Central ...

and

Maddy Turner Maddy Turner (born 17 December 1995) is an Australian netball player in the Suncorp Super Netball league, playing for the New South Wales Swifts. Turner was born in Adelaide and grew up playing netball at an elite level, representing Australia a ...

have all attempted the move with varied degrees of success.

References

{{Northern Mystics Netball terminology Northern Mystics Netball in Singapore 2012 ANZ Championship season 2011 World Netball Championships 2011 in netball 2012 in netball