- An Australian netball team made entirely of boys has been subjected to abuse after winning a state championship.
- There was outrage when the Queensland Suns Under-17 team won the state under-18s championship in Brisbane.
- Netball is traditionally largely played by women, but boys were allowed to play in the tournament as authorities push for greater male participation in the sport.
An Australian netball team made up entirely of boys was subjected to abuse after winning a state championship.
The Queensland Suns Under-17 team beat the Bond University Bull Sharks 46-12 to win the Queensland Under-18s championship in Brisbane, but members of the crowd reportedly began shouting insults at the team and benches during the match.
Netball is traditionally largely played by female athletes, but boys were allowed to play in the tournament as part of a move by authorities to push for greater male participation in the sport.
"The abuse ranged from comments made courtside deliberately within earshot of the Suns contingent, to adults making vulgar comments directly behind the team bench," Suns coach Tammy Holcroft told the Courier Mail.
"It's disappointing that the frustration was directed at the players.
"At the very core of this, our boys just want to play and they copped the brunt of these comments and behaviors and were made to feel unwelcomed and unsupported."
Andrew Voss, an Australian radio host, labelled the boys playing in the tournament as "bullshit" and called it a "farce."
"The boys team, which was undefeated throughout the tournament and boasted an average winning margin of 29 goals, was allowed to compete against the girls.
"How is that common sense? You're surely not going to endorse that as the way of the future, at under-18s level.
"They say they want to be inclusive, not exclusive. That's bullshit. It's a farce," Voss said on his SEN breakfast show.
In a statement, Netball Queensland said that everyone has a place in the sport.
"We stand by the decision to choose inclusion over exclusion. And, to invite the Queensland Suns to return to the State Titles given they have limited opportunities to play in a high performance environment due to low participation numbers and limited pathways.
"We recognise that change is sometimes uncomfortable, and we are buoyed by the support of our wider netball community who are embracing men and boys in competition formats and have done so for some time in a mixed netball capacity,
"We would also like to express how extremely disappointed we are by the behaviour of a few people in the crowd.
"We want to explicitly say that this was not the behaviour of our players, rather spectators.
"We also want to make clear that we won't tolerate vilification or abuse in any form in our game." the body said.
It also addressed a complaint that women's teams were disadvantaged.
"Our intent, from the outset, was to ensure all athletes were encouraged to perform to their best ability in a high-performance environment.
"The inclusion of both women and men in the competition in 2021 was about affording all netballers the opportunity to play and develop our great game.
"While we have been subject to commentary around the different physical attributes it should also be remembered that men are new participants to our sport and play a different style of netball.
The statement concluded by asserting: "We aspire to be a sport for all."