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

In the area of every week, Farah Hasan went from enjoying netball to not having the ability to stroll.

In June 2017, when Hasan was 21-years-old, she was identified 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 Team Northumbria within the Super 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 instructed Sky Sports.

“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 just a few years later. An alternative she discovered 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.

Growing up in Newcastle with combined Pakistani and British heritage, Hasan remembers discovering it tough 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 stated.

“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 is at present just one registered Asian participant within the Netball Super League, Ellie Rattu, who’s of combined White and Indian heritage, who performs for the London Mavericks.

The 2021 variety report confirmed that 1.5 per cent of England Netball members have been Asian and a couple of.5 per cent have been combined.

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

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

“That’s why initiatives just like the Pakistan Netball Academy are so necessary.”

Is clothes a barrier to netball?

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

The 21-year-old from Essex wears a hijab and stated 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 instructed Sky Sports.

“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 wish 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 variety.”

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 Kit Policy 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 new equipment has the choices of shorts, skorts (skirts with shorts connected 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 stated.

“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 title can also be very Asian and when folks learn that, I believe they’ve preconceptions about what I’m going to 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 enjoying netball’

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

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

Now, she is doing that for others.

The Pakistan Netball Academy, previously generally known as the Cosmopolitan Roses, have a partnership with Birmingham Panthers within the Netball Super League.

The academy focuses on high-performance netball, offering elite teaching, top-level coaching services, and a aggressive setting that pulls proficient athletes from all over the world.

“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 help of those massive golf equipment to be actually 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 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, but it surely is not numerous in the meanwhile. However, there’s a massive 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 will have helped a lot,” said Shah.

“For our staff, 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.”