Fastnet is a variation of netball

Netball

Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...

 featuring shortened games and goals worth multiple points. The new format was announced by the International Federation of Netball Associations

International Federation of Netball Associations

International Federation of Netball Associations is the governing body for netball. The organisation has five regional areas: Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Leadership meets every two years. IFNA is responsible for world rankings, maintaining the rules for netball and organising the...

 (IFNA) in 2008, and was primarily developed for a new international competition, the World Netball Series

World Netball Series

The World Netball Series is an international netball competition that was contested for the first time in October 2009. The new competition features modified "fastnet" rules, and has been likened to Twenty20 cricket and rugby sevens...

.

Background

In 2008, the IFNA released the details of a new, faster format of netball, which eventually became known as "fast net". The new format was developed for a new international netball competition, the World Netball Series. According to the IFNA, the new rules were ultimately designed to make games faster and more television-friendly, with the ultimate aim of raising the sport's profile and attracting more spectators and greater sponsorship. Previously, the new rules had been trialled by England junior and senior netball squads over a 12-month period. Some of the new rules were announced in December 2008, including six-minute playing quarters and power plays; others were announced in February 2009. The new format was quickly compared to Twenty20

Twenty20

Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in England for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board , in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket...

 cricket and rugby sevens

Rugby sevens

Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board , the body responsible for rugby union worldwide...

.

Playing rules

Fastnet features modified rules that are outlined below. Outside of these, the standard rules of netball apply (see Netball rules).

• Timing: Each quarter lasts only six minutes, compared with 15 minutes in normal international netball competition. Breaks in between quarters are two minutes each. Injury time-outs are 30 seconds only; standard rules allow for one initial two-minute injury time-out.
• Coaching: Coaches can give instructions to players from the sidelines during play, from in front of their playing bench. Standard international rules do not allow coaching during play.
• Substitutions: As in basketball
  Basketball
  Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
  
  , teams will be allowed to use rolling substitutions, with no stoppages in play per substitution and with unlimited substitutions per quarter. Standard international rules only allow substitutions either between quarters or when a player is injured.
• Power plays: Each team can separately nominate one "power play" quarter, in which each goal scored by that team counts for double points. This is somewhat similar to powerplays
  Powerplay (cricket)
  A Powerplay is a rule introduced in 1991 concerning fielding restrictions in One Day International cricket.The Powerplay was intended to add to the excitement in ODI cricket. In a Powerplay fielding restrictions are applied on the fielding team, only 2 or 3 players are allowed outside the 30 yard...
  
   in One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, although it is not a feature of standard netball.
• Two-point shots: Similar to three-point field goal
  Three-point field goal
  A three-point field goal is a field goal in a basketball game, made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc radiating from the basket...
  
  s in basketball and two-point goals in six-a-side indoor netball
  Indoor Netball
  Indoor netball is a variation of netball, played exclusively indoors, in which the playing court is surrounded on each side and overhead by a net. The net prevents the ball from leaving the court, reducing the number of playing stoppages. This gives indoor netball a faster pace than netball.There...
  
  , the goal shooter (GS) and goal attack (GA) may shoot goals from outside the shooting circle. These goals count for two points; in a power-play quarter, they would count for four points. Umpires raise one arm for a single-point goal and two arms for a two-point goal. In standard netball rules, goals can only be shot from within the shooting circle and count for one point only.
• Centre passes: After each goal, the team that conceded the goal takes the next centre pass; teams alternate taking the first centre pass of each quarter. Under normal rules, a coin toss determines the first centre pass of the match, after which centre passes alternate between the two teams.
• Tied scores: Tied games are decided by penalty shoot-outs, similar to those in association football. Often in competitive netball, tied games simply continue until one team wins in extra time, or else subsequently achieves a two-goal advantage.

Competitions

The main fastnet competition is the World Netball Series; presently, it is the only international competition based on the new format. It was first held in October 2009 and is contested on an annual basis between the top six national netball teams in the IFNA World Rankings

IFNA World Rankings

The IFNA World Rankings are published by the International Federation of Netball Associations to make it possible to compare the relative strengths of internationally active national netball teams. Initially, rankings were based on the results from the Netball World Championships, and released...

. Regional fastnet competitions also emerged in 2009 in England. The Jamaica Netball Association have also announced plans for a domestic fastnet competition in their country starting in 2010.

External links

• World Netball Series: Fastnet rules