Netball (INF) — Official Rules

Netball is played between two teams of seven players each on a hard rectangular court. The object is to score more goals than the opposing team. The ball is moved up the court by passing and may not be run with, bounced, dribbled or rolled. Players are restricted to designated areas of the court according to their playing position.

The team that has scored the greater number of goals at the end of playing time wins the match. If the scores are level the result is a draw, unless the rules of a particular competition provide for extra time or another method to determine a winner.

The court is a rectangle 30.5 m long and 15.25 m wide. All lines are part of the court and are no more than 50 mm wide. The court is divided into three equal thirds by two transverse lines. A centre circle 0.9 m in diameter is marked at the middle of the centre third. At each end a goal circle is a semicircle of 4.9 m radius drawn from the midpoint of each goal line.

A vertical goalpost 3.05 m high is positioned at the midpoint of each goal line. A horizontal ring 380 mm in internal diameter, fitted with a net, projects 150 mm from the top of the post. There is no backboard. A goal is scored only when the ball passes completely through the ring.

The ball is spherical, made of leather, rubber or a similar material, with a circumference of 690 to 710 mm and a weight of 400 to 450 g. It is the same as a size 5 association football / soccer ball.

A team consists of up to twelve players, of whom seven take the court at any one time. The remaining named players are substitutes on the team bench. A match may not start or continue with fewer than five players from a team on court, including a player in the Centre position. Each on-court player wears a bib showing one of the seven position abbreviations.

Each of the seven positions may only enter defined areas of the court:

• Goal Shooter (GS) — attacking goal third including the goal circle; may shoot.
• Goal Attack (GA) — centre third and attacking goal third including the goal circle; may shoot.
• Wing Attack (WA) — centre third and attacking goal third but not the goal circle.
• Centre (C) — all three thirds but not either goal circle.
• Wing Defence (WD) — centre third and defending goal third but not the goal circle.
• Goal Defence (GD) — centre third and defending goal third including the goal circle.
• Goal Keeper (GK) — defending goal third including the goal circle. Only GS and GA may score goals.

A match is played in four quarters of 15 minutes each. The intervals are four minutes between the first and second quarters and between the third and fourth quarters, and twelve minutes at half-time. Teams change ends at the start of every quarter. Competitions may vary these times provided the variation is stated in advance.

The timekeeper plays exactly the time allowed. Time is held for an injury, illness, blood, a stoppage requested by an umpire, or other interruption, and play restarts from where the ball was. Under the 2024 rules an umpire may hold time for an obvious or serious injury — particularly a suspected head/neck injury or concussion — without a request being made, in the interests of player safety.

A goal worth one point is scored when the ball is thrown or batted over and completely through the ring by the Goal Shooter or Goal Attack of the attacking team, from any point within the goal circle, while wholly inside the goal circle. Under the 2024 rules, if the ball has already left the shooter's hands when the whistle ends the period, the goal counts if it is successful.

Play starts each quarter and restarts after each goal with a centre pass taken alternately by the Centre of each team, regardless of which team scored. The Centre must stand wholly within the centre circle with at least one foot grounded inside it; the pass must be caught or touched by a player standing in or landing in the centre third. All other players are restricted to their own goal or centre thirds until the whistle.

On catching the ball with one foot grounded, that foot becomes the landing foot and may not be re-grounded once lifted while the player still holds the ball. A player may lift and pivot on the landing foot or step with the other foot, but must pass or shoot before re-grounding the lifted landing foot. Catching with both feet grounded allows either to be chosen as the landing foot. Breaking this rule is a footwork infringement.

A player who has caught or gained control of the ball must release it for a pass or shot within three seconds. The ball may not be held longer, replayed (caught after deliberately tossing it up to oneself without an intervening touch), run with, bounced or rolled. Breaching these is an infringement penalised by a free pass.

When the ball is passed there must be room for a third player to intervene between the hands of the thrower and those of the receiver as the ball travels. The 2024 rules clarified that there must be sufficient space on the court for an opposing player to be able to deflect or intercept the ball as it moves from the passer to the receiver. A pass that is too short is an infringement.

A player is offside if they enter, with any part of the body in contact with the ground, an area of the court that their playing position does not allow, whether or not the ball is held. If players from opposing teams go offside at the same time, possession is awarded according to the simultaneous-infringement rule.

The ball is out of court when it touches the ground, an object or a person outside the court, or contacts a player who is out of court. Play restarts with a throw-in awarded to the team that did not last touch the ball. The thrower stands outside the court behind the line where the ball went out, and must throw within three seconds.

No player may contact an opponent, whether accidentally or deliberately, in a way that interferes with that opponent's play or causes contact to occur. This includes pushing, tripping, holding, charging, leaning on a player or pushing off a player. The 2024 rules simplified the contact rule, focusing on whether contact interferes with play. Contact is penalised with a penalty pass (or penalty pass or shot in the goal circle) to the non-offending team.

A defender attempting to intercept or defend the ball must be at least 0.9 m (3 feet) from the landing foot, or from the spot of landing, of the player with the ball, measured on the ground, before extending arms to intercept or defend. Defending within that distance is obstruction. Obstruction of a player without the ball, and intimidation, are also penalised. The sanction is a penalty pass or penalty pass/shot.

A free pass is awarded for minor infringements such as footwork, held ball, offside, replaying the ball and short pass. It is taken from where the infringement occurred by any allowed player. A goal may not be scored directly from a free pass.

A penalty pass (or penalty pass or shot when awarded inside the goal circle to a shooter) is given for major infringements — chiefly contact and obstruction. The infringing player must stand out of play beside the thrower, taking no part until the ball has left the hands of the thrower. A goal may be scored directly from a penalty pass/shot.

The 2024 rules removed the toss-up. When opposing players infringe simultaneously, possession is awarded to the team that last had possession of the ball at the point where play stopped, and any player of that team may restart. Where umpires penalise opposing teams at the same time, the more significant sanction stands, with priority to foul play, then major, then minor infringements, then an infringement requiring an action.

The 2024 rules removed the formal caution and replaced it with a graduated game-management framework. Umpires may, depending on severity: give proactive advice, advance a sanction down the court, escalate from a free pass to a penalty, issue an official warning, impose a two-minute suspension, or order a player off for the remainder of the match. Repeated or serious foul play is escalated accordingly.

A player given a two-minute suspension leaves the court and takes no part for two minutes of playing time; the team plays short during that period. A player ordered off takes no further part in the match and may not be replaced unless the rules of a competition allow a substitute. A penalty pass or penalty pass/shot is also awarded to the non-offending team for the foul play.

Team changes and substitutions may be made at an interval, at any stoppage for injury, illness or blood, and — under the 2024 rules — as a tactical change immediately after a goal has been scored. A tactical change is either a team change (two on-court players swap positions) or a substitution (a bench player replaces an on-court player). Competitions may also permit rolling substitutions: while play continues, one substitution per team at a time may be made from the designated area without holding time, provided play is not delayed. There is no limit on the number of substitutions.