On any list of Things That Your Average Person Doesn’t Really Care About, netball would rank quite high. You could be excused for not knowing what netball is, let alone that it’s played in Trinity, given its spectacular unpopularity in this country. So, at the risk of regurgitating Wikipedia-standard information, it may be worth noting that netball developed as a sort of female basketball in the late 19th century. It is, nowadays, quite different to that sport, in that dribbling the ball has faded out and players can only move within their own area or zone of the court. It may not have the same bite as hockey or camogie, where there’s at least a fair chance of someone getting smashed with a big stick to sustain the spectators’ interest, but it undoubtedly has its charms. You get to play indoors, for one thing, and with global warming still not pulling its weight that’s a major advantage of an Irish winter’s evening. Still, it’s fair to say that if basketball hasn’t made much of an impact here, its less glamorous little sister has fared even worse. The grassroots don’t look too healthy. Only around half a dozen schools still play in the Republic, and the most well-known of those, Mount Anville, will cease its participation at the end of this year. Netball’s profile is pretty much non-existent, making it hard to attract new players, and women’s sports generally get a raw deal in terms of coverage (clearly not a bias reflected in this newspaper). Given the challenge facing her beloved discipline, it’s surprising to see just how enthusiastic the Trinity netball captain, Sarah Green, comes across. Even more unexpected is the revelation that this year saw record numbers signing up to play, with over 50 players turning out to the club’s first training session.

“The girls coming up from school have a real passion for the game and are trying to keep it alive”, says Green. Not that there’s much help forthcoming from the college authorities, who didn’t see fit to include netball markings on the new indoor court in the sports centre. In any case, such a level of interest can’t be accommodated within the confines of the hall; in common with other indoor pursuits which attract good numbers during Freshers’ Week, the club finds that the severe overcrowding means that new recruits are hard to hang on to. “There’s just no space”, says Green. “We’ve never had proper facilities, anyone who’s inter or beginner doesn’t get the attention and they just leave. At one point we were actually looking to rent space in UCD”.

Her frustration is understandable, given that the club won promotion into Division Two of the Netball Ireland league last year. That success was down to the talent and committment of a few players, but with increased numbers and a revised training schedule Green says that there is increased competition for places within the ranks, which should improve the overall standard. The club will field three competitive sides in the forthcoming season. Members will not be forced to go cap in hand to Belfield, however, as Rathdown school – one of the few still playing netball – have made their facilities available.

Netball is still relatively strong in England, New Zealand and Australia, with a presence in other former colonies in Africa and the Caribbean. It is now a fixture in the Commonwealth Games, and according to the sport’s governing body has been a “recognised Olympic Sport” since 1995. Quite why this is an achievement without netball actually being played in the Olympics, nobody knows, but the popularity of the game in the crucible of Empire seems solid: last week, a former English netball international was even appointed to the House of Lords. A good proportion of Trinity’s players come from the mother country, which is just as well given the decline in interest here. “In a team of seven, we could have five English and two Irish”, says Green.

In recognition of the small pool of opposition around these days, the club is seeking to arrange some friendly matches against schools for the beginner and intermediate sides, as well as lining out against some British opposition; University College London will cross the pond around Halloween. The intervarsity against Queen’s, held up in Belfast last year, will come to Trinity this time around – but only in spirit. As Trinity, disgracefully, don’t have a court to play on, the matches will have to be played in UCD.

Green rejects the charge that netball is just a less exciting version of basketball, noting that it is “a sport requiring a high degree of co-ordination”, often played by female rugby players in the southern hemisphere to enhance their technical skills. “It’s regarded as a female sport in the British Isles but if you go to South Africa or New Zealand you’ll find guys playing as well – if they’re man enough”. Point taken.