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International Rules Update
At the International Congress in November 2007 changes to the IFNA rules were agreed. The final text is not yet available to England Netball, but England Netball have been advised they should receive them shortly.
The new rules will be implemented for
- International Competition from 1st March 2008
- Domestic Competition from 1st September 2008
The new rules will be played at the Malawi test Series in April
Is the Line part of the court?
Question 1.
Can you please clarify for me, is your foot being on the line out?
I know it is on a throw in from outside of the court or at a centre pass.
I believed that your foot or ball on the line, when the other side of the line is a forbidden area, is always out. An example would be someone catching the ball on the side line and their foot being on the line but not over.
Answer
In the example you have given (i.e catch the ball and your foot is on the line (not over, touching outside of court or into an area you are not allowed) the line is part of the court - as per rule 1.1.5 in the rules book.
At a throw in -
- the player throwing the ball in shall - not enter the court (which includes lines bounding the court) until the ball has been thrown (rule 18.4.2)
At a centre pass -
- the Centre in possession of the ball shall stand wholly within the Centre Circle, on either one foot or both feet (rule 11.1)
Lost Possession
Question 2.
Many umpires(As did I before it was clarified to me) class a "re-possession" to be as little as whizzing through a players hands touching them without a control being involved.
This I was told was wrong as the ball has to be caught with a reasonable amount of control before it is classed as dropped and regained.
I also understand that one bounce to gain control of the ball is allowed, but often umpires pull this up as lost possession, especially if its been a stray ball.
Can we all be told the same definition of "replaying the ball".
Answer
Replay is one of the rules that at various levels is not always umpired correctly. There can only be replay of the ball i.e. if dropped after having possession or control.
The rule book lists what is allowed and what isnt when playing the ball.
A ball that hits someone or "whizzes through someone's hands" cannot be replay.
Yes you can bounce the ball 'once' to gain possession if not batted, thrown, held, or tipped first etc.
All these descriptions are in the rule book.
For full details, please see "playing the ball." in your Rules Book.
Out of Court
Question 3.
If a player jumps back onto the court and catches the ball with out having first made contact with the court, what should I do?
Answer
As per rule 10.4 - A player having no contact with the ball may stand or move out of Court but before playing the ball, the player must re-enter the court and no longer have contact with the ground out of court.
a throw in to the opposign team, at the point where the player was out of court.
Question 2.
Is the ball out of court if it hits the goal post and comes back onto the court?
Answer
As per rule 10.2 - A ball, which hits any part of the goalpost and rebounds into play, is not out of Court
