The Northern Ireland national netball team represent Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

 in international 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 ...

. The Northern Ireland team are presently coached by former representative captain Elaine Rice. During Rice's time as head coach, Northern Ireland have won the 2009 Nations Cup in Singapore, and came third in the 2011 European Netball Championships in Antrim. The team qualified for the 2011 World Netball Championships in Singapore, where they progressed to their first ever finals stage, eventually finishing 8th. As of 26 July 2011, Northern Ireland are ranked 11th on 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...

.

Players

Twelve players were selected to represent Northern Ireland at the 2011 World Netball Championships in Singapore, from 3–10 July. The team are presently captained by Belfast shooter Noleen Lennon.

Northern Ireland national netball team
Player name	Positions	Club
Kyla Bowman	GA, GS, GK	Larkfield
Micaela Brunton	WD	Belfast Ladies
Frances Campbell	WD	Belfast Ladies
Gemma Gibney	GK	Graduates
Hannah Irvine	GA	Graduates
Noleen Lennon (c)	GS	Belfast Ladies
Laura Mason	WA, C	Larkfield
Lisa McCaffrey (vc)	C	Larkfield
Deborah McCarthy	GD, GK	Graduates
Oonagh McCullough	GA	Graduates
Caroline O'Hanlon	GA	Larkfield
Fionnuala Toner	WD	Belfast Ladies

Coaching staff

• Head coach: Elaine Rice (née McLaughlin)
• Assistant coach: Clar Rois McGuinness
• Manager: Karen Rollo

Competitive history

World Netball Championships
Year	Championship	Location	Placing
1963	1st World Championships	Eastbourne Eastbourne Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head... , England	11th
1967	2nd World Championships	Perth Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000.... , Australia	-
1971	3rd World Championships	Kingston Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island... , Jamaica	8th
1975	4th World Championships	Auckland Auckland The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world... , New Zealand	9th
1979	5th World Championships	Port of Spain Port of Spain Port of Spain, also written as Port-of-Spain, is the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third-largest municipality, after San Fernando and Chaguanas. The city has a municipal population of 49,031 , a metropolitan population of 128,026 and a transient daily population... , Trinidad & Tobago	17th
1983	6th World Championships	Singapore Singapore Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...	7th
1987	7th World Championships	Glasgow Glasgow Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands... , Scotland	10th
1991	8th World Championships	Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people... , Australia	12th
1995	9th World Championships	Birmingham Birmingham Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a... , England	18th
1999	10th World Championships	Christchurch Christchurch Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of... , New Zealand	16th
2003	11th World Championships	Kingston Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island... , Jamaica	-
2007	12th World Championships	Auckland Auckland The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world... , New Zealand	-
2011	13th World Championships	Singapore Singapore Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...	8th

Other results for Northern Ireland
Tournament	Location	Placing
2009 Nations Cup	Singapore Singapore Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...	1st
2010 European Netball Championships	Cardiff Cardiff Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for... , Wales	4th
2011 European Netball Championships	Antrim Antrim - Northern Ireland :* County Antrim, one of the counties of Northern Ireland* Antrim, County Antrim, the town* Antrim railway station, serving the town of Antrim* Antrim , an administrative division... , Northern Ireland	3rd

External links

• Netball Northern Ireland website