The season’s opening night served up a cruel reminder that netball players risk serious injury every time they take to the court.
Teams are offering better training facilities and more opportunities to spend time in the gym, but women in sport remain far more susceptible to non-contact serious injuries than men.
That was highlighted when London Mavericks’ Vicki Oyesola crumpled to the court after landing a little awkwardly against Cardiff Dragons.
It was the dreaded anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury, the bane of many a netballer’s career – a season-ender on day one.
NSL says women are six times more likely to sustain such a non-contact injury than men, while a National Ligament Registry study has shown there are only more ACLs suffered by women in skiing than in netball.
More setbacks have followed, with Birmingham Panthers goal shooter Sigi Burger suffering a complete tear of her medial collateral ligament.
Manchester Thunder captain Amy Carter, who is a junior doctor and missed the 2022 season with an ACL injury, explained to BBC Sport why netballers suffer so badly.
“It’s a few different things. Your hips are a little bit wider, your knees are a bit closer together, you’re more likely to do your ACL,” Carter said.
“You’ve got the menstrual cycle to take into account, which can increase your risk when you’re on your period. The nature of the game, the change of directions, the high impact, the stopping still straight away, that can also contribute to it.”
Research continues into how players might mitigate risk, but knees are not the only problem. Panthers’ Gabby Marshall retired in May after a second concussion injury in a month.