IN Gail Parata's native New Zealand, home to some 4.5m people, there are 100,000 netball players.
Scotland, with 5.3m, has a figure closer to 3200. New Zealand is ranked top in the world, Scotland sit in 13th place. You don't need to be a genius to do the maths.
Yet, according to Parata, a former internationalist and now volunteer coach overseeing the Scottish national side, a sea change is happening and, despite a tough draw, she has high hopes for the host nation as the World Youth Netball Championships get under way in Glasgow today.
Scotland has arguably one of the most formidable groups of the 10-day competition lining up alongside highly-rated Jamaica, Wales, Samoa and Cayman Islands.
New Zealand will take on Northern Ireland, Trinidad & Tobago, Bermuda and Malta, while Australia play South Africa, Fiji, Israel and Namibia. England are drawn against Barbados, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Ireland and Singapore.
"I hope Scotland can make the top eight; if they do it would be outstanding," said Parata. "If they could catch one of the big-name teams off guard and push their way to second place in the group that would get them through to the top eight.
"Finishing third in their section would be the next big aim because they could then try for a placing of ninth to 12th. That would also be a good result for Scotland."
Netball can lay claim to being the fastest-growing women's team sport in the world. While not part of the Olympic Games, it has been included in the Commonwealth Games since 1998. Scotland, however, has some way to go to catch up with superpowers New Zealand and Australia who jointly have the world's first semi-professional netball league: the ANZ Championship.
"In New Zealand netball is the No.1 female sport," said Parata. "Scotland doesn't have the same high levels of numbers playing and participation is based mainly around the Glasgow area. There is a lot of work to be done to make it more popular but from what I've seen there are some really nice players here."
Parata, 45, played high performance netball for 14 years, capped for New Zealand against Australia in 1996. She retired in 2001 and turned her hand to coaching. She has worked as assistant coach for ANZ Championship teams Central Pulse and LG Northern Mystics, also doing a stint with her country's national side, the Silver Ferns.
In April, Parata came to Glasgow to offer her skills on a volunteer basis after Scotland's national coach Denise Holland resigned last year.
She is all too aware of the enduring perception, in this corner of the world at least, of netball as a schoolgirl's game. "I can understand why people think that as the sport isn't promoted as much," she said. To that end it is her belief that the World Youth Netball Championships and Commonwealth Games can help stoke the flames of change. "Yes, things could be better, but you have to start somewhere," she said. "For Scotland this is only the beginning to show how great our sport is."
The coming days will provide an opportunity for the host nation's under-21 squad to shine on an international stage, with many hoping to catch the eye of Glasgow 2014 selectors. The Scottish netball players will find out in September if they have made the cut of 20 athletes that will train together before the final selection of 12 is made next year.
"There is some really nice talent in that Scotland Under-21 team," said Parata. "The senior players have already finished their trials and now the younger players have their chance to show what they can do."
It is her belief there is still much untapped netball potential in this country. "You have got good talent here but I don't know about depth because there is not enough people playing it in Scotland currently," she said. "In New Zealand we struggle with depth and we have more than 100,000 people who play. In Australia it's more than a million, whereas in Scotland there are still very few. That needs to be built on, but it will be slow steps."
The 2013 World Youth Netball Championships, Emirates Arena, Glasgow, August 22-31.
www.worldyouthnetball.com
0141 353 8000
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