Netball has every ingredient a fines system needs and almost nobody writes the list down. Seven on court, no hiding place, an umpire who can hear everything, and a whistle for offences that are nobody's fault but your own.
The short answer
Netball team fines usually cover footwork and contact calls, going offside, missed shots from under the post, forgotten bibs, long nails and jewellery, and pulling out of a fixture late. Most clubs price them between 50p and three pounds and collect at the end of the month, with the pot paying for the end of season meal. Netball fines matter more than in bigger sports because a side of seven cannot absorb a no show.
Why netball needs a fines list more than football does
A football squad can lose three players on a Saturday morning and still put out a team. A netball side cannot. Seven on court means one late dropout is not an inconvenience, it is a forfeit, and everybody else has given up their Monday evening for nothing.
That is the real reason to run fines in netball, and it is why the availability section further down is the one that actually changes behaviour. The footwork calls are the fun part. The late dropout fine is the part that saves your season.
On court fines
Keep these cheap. They happen several times a game and the point is the running joke, not the money.
| Offence | Suggested fine |
|---|---|
| Footwork call | 50p |
| Three footwork calls in one game | £2 |
| Contact | 50p |
| Contact that gives away a penalty right under the post | £1 |
| Obstruction, nowhere near three feet | £1 |
| Going offside | £1 |
| Going offside from the first centre pass of the game | £2 |
| Held ball | 50p |
| Throwing it straight off the court | £1 |
| Throwing it to someone who is clearly offside | £1 |
| Standing in the way of your own shooter | £1 |
| Shouting for it, getting it, losing it | £1 |
| Replaying the ball off your own foot | 50p |
| Any call you then dispute | £1 |
Shooting, centre pass and position fines
| Offence | Suggested fine |
|---|---|
| Missing a penalty pass from directly under the post | £1 |
| Missing two in a row from under the post | £2 |
| Centre pass straight to the opposition | £1 |
| Centre pass that does not reach the third | £1 |
| A shooter blaming the feeder out loud | £2 |
| A feeder blaming the shooter out loud | £2 |
| Asking to swap position mid game | £1 |
| Asking to swap position because you fancy a shot | £2 |
| Playing centre and never once going into either third | £1 |
| A GK who ends the game having never jumped | £1 |
| Taking a shot when you are not GS or GA | £3 |
| Telling the coach your position is wrong at half time | £2 |
Kit, bibs and the nails rule
This is the section every netballer recognises, because netball is the only sport where an umpire can send you off court for your hands.
| Offence | Suggested fine |
|---|---|
| Turning up without your bib | £2 |
| Turning up with the wrong bib and leaving the team without a GK | £3 |
| Losing a club bib | £5 |
| Wearing a bib inside out all game | £1 |
| Nails too long, sent off court by the umpire | £3 |
| Nails done the day before a match anyway | £2 |
| Earrings still in at the first whistle | £2 |
| Any jewellery the umpire has to ask twice about | £3 |
| Turning up in trainers instead of court shoes | £1 |
| Turning up in studs to an indoor league | £3 |
| Forgetting your skort and borrowing one | £2 |
| Leaving the match balls at home | £3 |
| Leaving the first aid kit at home | £2 |
Umpire fines, including the one only netball has
Netball runs on volunteers with a whistle, and at club level that volunteer is very often somebody's mum, somebody's partner or the player who got injured in September. Fine accordingly.
| Offence | Suggested fine |
|---|---|
| Arguing with the umpire | £2 |
| Arguing with an umpire who is a teammate's mum | £5 |
| Arguing with an umpire who is your own mum | £10 |
| Not thanking the umpire at the end | £2 |
| Being asked to umpire and claiming you do not know the rules | £2 |
| Umpiring and calling your own team offside first | 50p |
| Sighing loudly at a call | £1 |
| The look | £1 |
Availability fines, the ones that matter
Price these properly. Everything above is for the laugh. These exist because a side of seven that loses one player on the day loses the fixture, and the people who did turn up are the ones who pay for it.
Set them high enough to be felt and make sure everybody agrees to them before the season starts, not after somebody has already let the team down. A fine invented in response to one person is a punishment. A fine agreed in August is a rule.
| Offence | Suggested fine |
|---|---|
| Pulling out on the day of a match | £5 |
| Pulling out on the day for something that was in the diary | £10 |
| No show, no message | £10 |
| Not replying to the availability request all week | £2 |
| Changing your availability three times | £2 |
| Saying yes then going quiet | £3 |
| Being the reason the team plays with six | £10 |
| Arriving after the warm up has finished | £2 |
| Arriving after the first centre pass | £5 |
Prices that work for a netball club
- 50p to £1 for anything that happens most weeks. Footwork, contact, held ball.
- £1 to £3 for the avoidable stuff. Kit, nails, jewellery, bibs.
- £5 to £10 for letting the team down. These are the only ones meant to sting.
- Cap the total any one player can owe in a month, usually around £10, so nobody has a bad month and then quietly stops coming.
- Collect monthly, not weekly. Weekly turns the social secretary into a debt collector.
What netball clubs actually spend the pot on
The end of season meal, almost always. After that it is the Christmas do, a set of training bibs the club has been asking for since last year, the entry fee for a summer tournament, or a trophy for the player who collected the most fines.
Announce the running total somewhere everybody can see it. A pot nobody can see is just money people have lost, and it is the fastest way to kill the whole thing.
Juniors, and why money is the wrong answer
It turns into parents being asked for cash, which is a different thing entirely from a squad of adults agreeing to charge each other a pound.
Run the same list on points instead. The offences, the leaderboard and the banter all survive, and the season ends with a trophy rather than an invoice. Fine Club has a points mode for exactly this.
Never run a money fines list on a junior or youth side. The one family who cannot spare it stops bringing their daughter, and you will not be told that is why.
Keeping the tally across a league season
A netball league season is thirty weeks and a note in somebody's phone does not survive it. Fine Club keeps the rulebook, the running pot and the leaderboard in one place, so the fines come out at the end of the month without anybody having to remember who owed what in October. Free on iOS and Android.
Common questions
What are good netball team fines?
Footwork calls, contact under the post, going offside, missing a penalty pass from directly under the post, turning up without your bib, nails too long for the umpire, and pulling out of a match on the day. Price the on court ones at 50p to a pound and the availability ones at five to ten pounds.
How much should a netball fine be?
Between 50p and three pounds for anything that happens on court, and five to ten pounds for letting the team down by dropping out late. A monthly cap of around ten pounds per player keeps it affordable for everybody.
Is it fair to fine someone for pulling out of a netball match?
Yes, as long as the rule was agreed by the squad before the season started rather than invented after somebody has already done it. A side of seven cannot cover a late dropout, so the cost falls on the players who did turn up.
Can you run netball fines without money?
Yes, and for junior and youth sides you should. Run the identical list on points, keep the leaderboard, and hand out a trophy at the end of the season instead of collecting cash.
What do netball clubs spend the fines pot on?
Usually the end of season meal, then the Christmas do, training bibs, or the entry fee for a summer tournament. The important part is that the total is visible to everybody while it builds.
Run your fines in the app, not a notes app
Fine Club keeps your rulebook, the pot and the leaderboard in one place, so nobody has to chase a pound by hand. Free on iOS and Android.