03 December 2025 | CopriSystems

Net Gains

Netball has firmly established itself as one of the nation’s favourite team sports, in fact it is booming.

The sport’s national governing body, England Netball, saw its membership reach an all-time high of 123,000 members during the 2024-25 season, which marks a 71% growth since 2008-9. Netball is one of only two team sports to see statistically significant increases since last year. The other is female football, which is a great sign that women and girls are taking up sports at record levels. It’s the 3rd most popular team sport among men and women behind football and cricket.

We can expect the stats to get even better in 2026 as England Netball celebrate their centenary year and The Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow. Both events are likely to put netball further under the spotlight.

As well as being fans and recreational players of the sport, CopriSystems’ interest extends to what happens after 2026 when player numbers increase further. Do we have the facilities available to meet the demand to play?

There are now approximately 5,900 outdoor and 2,600 indoor courts available in England. As a sport that is typically played in schools during the Autumn – Spring terms, our weather can bring misery to many when temperatures drop and courts freeze or flood. It’s no wonder that elite level matches are held inside – zero risk of the weather threatening the game and a guaranteed level of comfort that will have a positive impact on the standard of play, which will be good for the profile of netball at a national/global level. At grassroots level, cold fingers and toes would be enough to put the youngsters off (not to mention the side-line mums and dads) and the older generations might think twice before playing walking netball on a slippery surface.

CopriSystems have designed and built indoor venues that are specifically intended for netball but the facility landscape presents so many opportunities for multiple sports to thrive and multiple revenues to stream. One multi-sport venue can provide a safe local hub for all ages and abilities to take part in not only netball but also other activities such as tennis, basketball, badminton and football. By offering such a range of activities to a broad demographic, the occupancy rate of a multi-sport venue is likely to be high, no matter the time of day or time of the year, which is great for ROI.

Multi-sport venues also present opportunities for educational establishments, leisure centres, sports clubs and local authorities to join forces for the benefit of the whole community. The increased visibility of netball in 2026 is likely to give the sport a real boost and CopriSystems look forward to seeing how these organisations respond and capitalise on this to ensure the great game becomes even more accessible for all to get involved.

Other Press Releases from CopriSystems

13/11/2025 - Call it a Canopy The LTA and ECB are opting for canopy-style indoor structures as part of their latest bids to make tennis and cricket more accessible, whatever the weather.

07/10/2025 - Indoor Sports Facilities Help Keep The Nation Active In the years since we came out of lockdown, official messaging around the importance of staying active has stepped up a notch with many organisations including Sport England, the LTA and UK Active all launching new campaigns to encourage increased participation in sport.

16/9/2025 - Cefn Hengoed Community School and Leisure Centre School holidays can be a real pressure point for some families. Children from low-income households are less likely to have access to organised out-of-school activities. They are more likely to experience ‘unhealthy holidays’ in terms of their physical wellbeing as well as social isolation, which inevitably has a negative impact on their mental wellbeing.

23/7/2025 - Flexible Warehousing Is The Way Forward For Wickes In this modern, ‘I want it now’ culture, the challenges for Logistics Managers are coming in thick and fast. When faced with the issue of having to manage demand exactly when and where required to meet consumer seasonal peaks and trends, an adaptable approach is critical.

23/6/2025 - The Great Indoors Our changeable weather dominates conversation across the UK. In fact, we spend six months of our lives discussing it.