BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Gertrude Brewster is sharing her love of netball with the city of Boston.
"I was a shooter at one time. I played center, I played goalkeeper, I played anything I could play," said Coach Brewster. "I love the game a lot. It is great."
Similar to basketball, netball is played by teams of seven on a rectangular court with goals at each end. With assigned positions, players must score a goal within a defined area by shooting into a backboard-less ring without dribbling. Unlike basketball, players can only hold onto the ball for three seconds before they are forced to pass or shoot the ball.
Netball first gained popularity in Springfield. As the president of the Boston Netball Club, Coach Brewster worked with the city to build the only netball court in Boston. She is currently looking to add more players to the team as they head to New York to face off against the DC Dragons in Brooklyn for the USA Netball National Premier League.
"Right now, we have players from Waltham who drive from there every two days of the week in Boston to play with us."
Invented in England in 1895, netball was created primarily as a sport for women. Now the game is played by more than 20 million people in more than 80 countries. According to some, netball is more challenging than basketball.
"Basketball, they have a backboard so they get some kind of help," said Oslyn Brumant, president of the Shamrock Netball Club. "But in netball, we get no help."
WBZ NewsRadio's Emma Friedman (@EmmaFriedmanWBZ) reports.