Yesterday, The International Netball Federation announced that the 2019 tournament will see Liverpool follow in the footsteps of Eastbourne, who hosted the first-ever competition in 1963, and Birmingham, where it was last held in 1995.
It means the England team will not only have home advantage on its side but will also be competing in a city that has proved lucky in the past. It was in Liverpool in 2011 that England Netball lifted its first major trophy in the World Netball Series.
The announcement was the second piece of good news for the sport within a few days. Last week’s Active People Survey revealed that over 25,000 more people now play netball at least once a week compared to the previous year.
CEO of England Netball Joanna Adams is thrilled that Liverpool won the right to host the biggest competition in the netball calendar. “With more and more women playing the sport, this will provide a welcome incentive to build upon our momentum and increase the visibility of netball in our country,” she said.
“This is a massive tribute to the wonderful army of volunteers who have helped us to grow the game in our country. Without their support we would never have been in a position to bid for, let alone win, the rights to host a Netball World Cup.
Alongside squash and basketball, netball is one of only three sports that receives Sport England funding at both elite and grassroots level.
We are investing £5m into its elite programme over the four year Whole Sport Plan funding cycle. Our investment has supported the team on its journey towards this summer’s World Cup, which takes place in Sydney this August.
Sport England Director of Sport, Phil Smith, said: “This is fantastic news for England Netball and for English sport. We don’t get to host many world cups and I am hoping that we will win this one.
“We are working with England Netball to make sure that it can take advantage of holding the competition on home turf both to ensure success for our team and to use it to get more women and girls playing the game.”