Editing Netball (section)

== Comparison with basketball ==
Netball's development traces back to American sports teacher [[Clara Gregory Baer]]'s misinterpretation of the [[basketball]] rule book in 1895. The book had lines of patrol drawn on it and she interpreted this to mean that players had to stay in those zones.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.netball.org/Netball.aspx?id=18 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110306141537/http://www.netball.org/Netball.aspx?id=18 | archive-date=6 March 2011 | title=IFNA : Development : History of Netball }}</ref> Baer's modifications proliferated and were later officially ratified into the rules for [[women's basketball]] by 1899. [[Martina Bergman-Österberg]] had also introduced basketball to her female students at her Physical Training College in [[England]] in 1893. In the beginning it was also described as "women's basketball", but by 1897 it started to evolve into a distinctly separate sport based on modifications developed at Bergman-Österberg's college combined with Baer's rules.

The first codified rules of Bergman-Österberg's new sport, ''netball'', were then published in 1901. By 1960, international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball, later renamed [[World Netball]], was formed to be the sport's [[List of international sports federations|international governing body]].

Netball differs in many ways from basketball, principally in the absence of the [[Backboard (basketball)|backboards]] from the [[Basket (basketball)|hoop or goal ring]] and the prohibition of [[dribbling]], bouncing, and running while in possession of the ball. Physical player contact is more controlled than in basketball. In addition, netball not only identifies the different positions of its players, but also defines where and in which areas of the court specific players are allowed to be when they compete.