Pakistan netball: Meet the workforce who’re backed by Tremendous League membership Birmingham Panthers and are inspiring change within the sport

Within the area of per week, Farah Hasan went from taking part in netball to not with the ability to stroll.

In June 2017, when Hasan was 21-years-old, she was recognized with Cerebellar Ataxia, a neurological situation the place injury to the cerebellum – the mind area controlling motion – causes a lack of muscle coordination.

Hasan, now 30, thought it was the top of her sporting journey. She performed for Group Northumbria within the Tremendous League however was in a wheelchair for six months and needed to drop out of college to give attention to rehabilitation.

“I don’t want to say I had given up on myself, but I had resigned myself to the fact that I’ve done those things,” Hasan advised Sky Sports activities.

“I played in the Super League and that was amazing and I thought I was entering a different phase of my life.”

Then got here the Pakistan Netball Academy trials a number of years later. A chance she came upon about while scrolling on Instagram, and he or she was profitable.

“I’ve been part of this amazing group of girls who are so supportive, and they’ve reignited that spark and made me realise that I can still do these things,” Hasan added.

Rising up in Newcastle with blended Pakistani and British heritage, Hasan remembers discovering it troublesome to slot in till she found the Pakistan Netball Academy.

“Being mixed race definitely shaped who I am and how I see the world today,” Hasan mentioned.

“My white British friends could tell that there was something not quite the same about me, and I didn’t really fit in with my Pakistani circle either. I found myself in this in-between place.

“I’ve embraced that uniqueness and made it right into a core a part of who I’m.

“I’ve definitely tried to use it as a strength for me. Often, I was the only Asian or mixed heritage player on those teams and I still hear the same thing happening to other girls.”

There’s at the moment just one registered Asian participant within the Netball Tremendous League, Ellie Rattu, who’s of blended White and Indian heritage, who performs for the London Mavericks.

The 2021 range report confirmed that 1.5 per cent of England Netball members had been Asian and a pair of.5 per cent had been blended.

In keeping with the newest England and Wales census in 2021, about 9.3 per cent of the inhabitants belongs to an Asian ethnic group.

Talking about these figures, Hasan mentioned: “Netball is growing, and it still needs to grow, but not only in numbers, but in diversity as well.

“That is why initiatives just like the Pakistan Netball Academy are so essential.”

Is clothes a barrier to netball?

Leya Shah was a part of the Pakistan workforce that just lately made historical past on the Asian Youth Ladies Netball Championship by beating the Maldives within the Plate Division Cup ultimate earlier this 12 months.

The 21-year-old from Essex wears a hijab and mentioned she all the time felt “like the odd one out”.

“I always felt like I had so much more to prove because people automatically have stereotypes against hijabis,” Shah advised Sky Sports activities.

“I’ve been wearing a hijab for six years now, and I still feel the same. I know I have something extra to prove on the court just because of how I’m dressed.

“It is not good, and it is one thing I want to imagine is altering.

“When I was younger, I always thought about what people would think about me wearing a hijab or leggings.

“With the game being predominantly white and residing in Essex, there’s not a lot range.”

In November, it was announced that netball kits were getting a makeover.

London Mavericks are the first Netball Super League club to unveil a kit under the League’s updated Inclusive Kit Policy for the 2026 season.

The League’s up to date Inclusive Package Coverage permits golf equipment to place selection, consolation, and confidence on the forefront of athlete efficiency.

The netball costume is usually figure-hugging and fairly quick. The brand new equipment has the choices of shorts, skorts (skirts with shorts hooked up beneath), plus leggings and longer vests.

When Hasan took half within the Pakistan trials, she additionally struggled with what to put on.

“I took three different changes of outfit with me,” she mentioned.

“My appearance doesn’t fit the typical image of a Pakistani woman, and I was a bit worried that I would be judged, not necessarily from the players, but from parents, who have certain mindsets about the way that I should look but it turned out to be the opposite; everyone was supportive.

“My identify can be very Asian and when folks learn that, I believe they’ve preconceptions about what I will be like.

“I feel like I have something to prove on the court because my name and image don’t necessarily fit the stereotype.”

‘I want I noticed somebody who seemed like me taking part in netball’

Haroona Zaman, the CEO of the Pakistan Netball Academy and vice-president of the Pakistan Netball Federation, is decided to alter the narrative.

Her inclusion in sport was inspired by her mum. “It was really empowering to have someone who always pushed the boundaries, ” Zaman mentioned.

Now, she is doing that for others.

The Pakistan Netball Academy, previously referred to as the Cosmopolitan Roses, have a partnership with Birmingham Panthers within the Netball Tremendous League.

The academy focuses on high-performance netball, offering elite teaching, top-level coaching amenities, and a aggressive atmosphere that draws proficient athletes from world wide.

“We formed this academy because there was a lack of representation and we wanted to make a safe space for women and girls to come into our academy,” she added.

“The academy offers coaching, training facilities, and we have girls coming from all over the world to train with us.

“We want the assist of those large golf equipment to be really inclusive, to get media protection, to again our applications and what we’re doing.

“It’s about getting these girls higher up the ranks where they can trial for big franchises.”

Panthers CEO Will Collinson added: “We felt that if we were going to grow the franchise, we needed to break down the barriers in netball.

“Being inclusive is completely important to us as a result of we truly really feel we have got to signify the neighborhood the place we exist.

“We want to grow into communities and involve as many of the different ethnic groups as we can in the franchise; that’s our mantra.

“Netball is getting extra inclusive, however it is not numerous in the mean time. Nonetheless, there’s a large recognition that there must be a change, and all of us who work in sport imagine within the energy of sport to do good.”

Women’s sport is growing faster than ever, with record numbers of viewers tuning in.

Research conducted by the Women’s Sport Trust found that across the Netball Super League, Women’s Euros, Rugby World Cup, Barclays Women’s Super League and The Hundred, total viewing hours for women’s sport on free-to-air and pay TV from January to September 2025 reached a record 357 million hours, up from the previous high of 339 million during the same period in 2023.

But there remains a huge disparity in representation within these sports.

“Being a younger athlete myself, if I had a job mannequin, it could have helped a lot,” said Shah.

“For our workforce, having illustration and visibility would imply a lot, in addition to funding into the Pakistan Netball Academy and extra media protection.

“Women’s sport has come a long way over the years, and we’re only just getting started.”