‘Netball? You mean football?’ – Now I’m England men’s netball captain

Joining a men’s netball club in England was not easy for James Thomson-Boston when he moved over from Australia nine years ago.

“When I came here I wanted to join a men’s netball team, and everyone was like, ‘Oh, I think you mean football?’ – I was like, ‘No, I mean netball’,” the 32-year-old told BBC Sport.

Now, he captains the England men’s team and will lead his side out at London’s Copper Box on Sunday for game one in a three-match international series against Australia.

“Netball has always been something your sister played, or the girls played at school, or a sport you were forced to play when you were like 12,” Thomson-Boston said.

The England men’s team, or the England Thorns, played their first international match in October 2022, after being formed just seven months earlier.

They were defeated by hosts Australia 73-27 but it was a landmark moment for men’s netball back home.

“We didn’t get people saying ‘Oh God, you got beaten by 60 goals’. People were like, ‘It was really impressive to see you go out there, and show that the UK is developing in the netball world’,” Thomson-Boston said.

Since that tour, male participation in netball has more than tripled in England. There are now over 70 clubs across the UK offering men’s and mixed teams.

The England Men’s and Mixed Netball Association, EMMNA, is looking to expand its National Championships given the increasing demand from clubs to be involved.

There were 14 teams involved in the first men’s and mixed National Championships in 2021. This year, they have 48 teams competing, with a further 10 on a waiting list.

The men’s game continues to grow around the world.

Australia, a dominant force in both men’s and women’s netball, has been running a Men’s and Mixed Netball Championship for more than 40 years.

“People [in Australia] are encouraged from a young age to play the sport and to really see it as a viable option”, Thomson-Boston said.

Ryan Allan, president and founder of the volunteer-run organisation EMMNA, believes the biggest barrier to the growth of men’s netball in England is funding.

All the athletes in the England men’s team are self-funded, with Thomson-Boston saying they play “for the pride” and “to further the sport”.

Allan identifies boys aged between 11 to 16 as those who tend to have limited opportunities to continue playing because of a lack of school-based netball programmes or pathways.

Then there is the stigma of netball being a sport “that the girls played at school”, which Thomson-Boston believes is changing.

The narrative of women’s sport fighting for recognition in a historically male-dominated space is a familiar one.

But for netball, it is quite the opposite position.

The women’s game is supporting growth in the men’s ranks, with the Netball Super League teams – the elite women’s clubs in England – welcoming England men’s players as training partners.

The benefits are mutual.

London Pulse head coach Sam Bird, with whose Super League team Thomson-Boston trains, said: “The men play a slightly different form of the game, so it’s quite good for challenging us.

“If you’ve been playing netball as a female, coming up through the ranks, you tend to sort of play in one style. The men create an unpredictable style for us, and the girls really enjoy training against that sort of unpredictability.”

Pulse defender Darcie Everitt added: “They bring a lot of strength and they also play really, really fast. As a defender, it’s good to practise against that style of play. They push us even further.”

The men’s matches against Australia are being promoted as double-headers with Super League matches, where fans can watch both the England men and a Super League women’s match with a single ticket.

As men’s netball continues to develop, protecting the sport’s identity as a traditionally female-led sport has become a key part of that journey, Thomson-Boston said.

“This was a female-led space that was for females, aimed at females,” he said. “We aren’t coming in to dominate that space. We just want to increase the amount of people who can see the sport”.

There has never been a men’s netball World Cup – but there are ongoing discussions around a potential launch in 2027, the same year of the women’s Netball World Cup in Sydney.

Could a men’s World Cup run alongside the women’s edition?

“The end goal would be that it runs in tandem. Everyone is in the same area, all the same energy, bringing all the netball noise!” Thomson-Boston said.

As for the Olympics, netball has yet to make its debut.