2011 marked by success on the court for Welsh netball

As 2011 draws to a close, reflections on the year have been ubiquitous. Most notable, perhaps, has been the row over the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award (as An Early Bath has already discussed here and here).

It would not be courting too much controversy to describe the past year as a successful one for Welsh sport.

As well as the accomplishments of the men’s national football (made the biggest rise in FIFA’s world rankings over the year) and rugby (near-World Cup glory) sides as well as Swansea City’s promotion to the Premier League, Wales has five high-profile world champions crowned this year:

• Nathan Cleverly, WBO light-heavyweight champion
• Chaz Davies, motorcyclist, World Supersport champion
• Dai Greene, 400m gold medallist champion at Daegu World Athletics Championships
• Helen Jenkins, world triathlon champion
• Nathan Stephens, javelin gold medallist at the Paralympic Athletics World Championships

Yet despite being somewhat overshadowed, the Welsh netball side’s 2011 has ranked alongside the above achievements.

The team has had to begin from a much lower base, with netball simply not having a high enough profile on these shores to attract enough investment and support – despite the popularity of the sport at school-level. In Australia and New Zealand, for example, a televised, well-supported semi-professional league exists in the form of the ANZ Championship.

ANZ Championship match in Australia. Photo: Flickr, mike lowe

But the Wales team, which finished second in the Open European Championships in April, ninth in the World Championships in July and has also leapt up the world rankings to 12^th, has undergone something of a renaissance. Wales also swept Scotland on a recent tour there.

Much of that can be attributed to Wales’ New Zealander coach Melissa Hyndman, and she will be looking to build on those triumphs in the New Year. There will be no football-style Team GB controversies in netball, though, as the sport has not been awarded Olympic status. It is that kind of barrier netball in this country still has to overcome.

Watch out for a question and answer with Mike Fatkin, chief executive of Welsh Netball, in the next few days, where he will be addressing many of the challenges faced by his sport.