Australian Festival Welcomes US Netball National Squad
September 2, 2004
The Australian Festival in association with the US Netball Association is delighted to announce that a select squad of USA Netball team members will participate at the Australian Festival from September 10 – 12th in Nashville, Tennessee to showcase Netball and promote the upcoming World Youth Netball Championships to be held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in July 2005. 

The World Youth Netball Championships 2005 is one of the most important events in the history of Netball and a key milestone in the history of US Netball, being the first International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) sanctioned Netball event to be held in the USA since the 1800s when Netball first came into existence. The goal of the WYNC2005 Organizing Committee is to help the United States of America Netball Association (USANA) increase visibility for Netball and boost the number of youths playing the sport in the US by hosting the First World Youth Netball Championships in Broward County, Florida, USA from 21st to 31st July. 

Netball is an exciting, fast, skillful sport played at youth and senior level. Everyone benefits from the team-spirit and multi-cultural unity that Netball fosters. For those that have played Basketball, this is an ideal alternate sport. The squad participating at the Australian Festival features new players and trialists for the Under 21 squad in addition to the Senior squad who represented the US at the World Championships, Jamaica 2003 and helped the team make history by moving from the 15th to 9th ranked position Worldwide. Also participating will be teams from Georgia Netball Association.
“We are extremely excited to be present and showcasing Netball at the Australian Festival” said Carole Hokrein, Secretary for USANA Inc and CEO WYNC2005 LLC “this event marks another historic milestone in our quest to put Netball firmly on the sporting map and bring it back to its US roots. Hosting the WYNC in Florida in 2005 will bring even more visibility to this dynamic sport and help local clubs, including those in the Tennessee area and neighboring states, expand their numbers and attract funding to fuel future growth.”

“The showcasing of Netball at the Australian Festival is a great step towards making Netball more accessible to Tennessee’s Youth and Senior players” said Albert Tucker, Vice President - Multicultural Business Development for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Netball is one of the best kept secrets in the US and we plan to change that by hosting the first World Youth Netball Championships in the US. Netball is an exciting sport that has extensive reach in many areas of the globe, unifying people from all walks of life – different cultures, different nationalities and different professions”

With the advent of WYNC2005, interest in Netball will reach fever pitch in the US.

About WYNC2005 LLC and the World Youth Netball Championships
WYNC2005 LLC is the Organizing Committee of the first World Youth Netball Championship to be held in the United States. The World Youth Netball Championship 2005 will be held from July 21-31 at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida under the honorary patronage of Commissioner Hazelle Rogers, City of Lauderdale Lakes who is also Chairperson of WYNC2005. The event is expected to attract over 500 athletes worldwide and an enormous spectator following from the 400,000 people living in the South Florida tri-county area in addition to spectators and affiliates from the participating countries which will include the USA. An income of over $7 million is expected to be generated in the local area as a result of the Championships. The WYNC2005 Organizing Committee comprises executives from United States Netball Association (USANA) Executive Committee, Broward County Convention and Visitors Bureau and the City of Lauderdale Lakes. This is one of the most important events in the history of Netball and a key milestone in the history of US Netball, being the first International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) sanctioned Netball event to be held in the USA since the 1800s and since IFNA came into existence.

About Netball
Netball, which started as a derivative of US women’s basketball, and was first played in England in 1895, is a sport that enjoys immense popularity in over 80 nations worldwide. It is an exciting, fast, skillful non-contact team sport that evolved in Great Britain and gained popularity first in the British Commonwealth countries such as Canada and the Caribbean and is now rapidly gaining popularity in the USA. In the US, Netball has affiliates and contacts in over 13 states. The US Senior Squad was ranked #9 in the World following the 2003 World Netball Championships in Jamaica. The latter was achieved with no government or financial backing other than sponsorship by Kea for uniforms. Worldwide, Netball is played by over 20 million people from high school through to adult leagues. In Australia alone, there are over 1.3 million participants and 330,000 registered players making Netball the country’s largest participation sport over Rugby, Cricket or Australian Rules Football. Other major participating nations are New Zealand and England. New Zealand, the current Senior World Champions, with 500,000 participants and 120,000 registered players often airs Netball in prime time TV viewing slots over Rugby, the country’s national sport. England has 1 million participants and over 55,000 registered players making Netball the most popular women’s team sport. 

For complete details about netball and the USANA - please visit - www.usnetball.com