Wednesday 2 October 2019 08:20, UK
This year's Netball World Cup in Liverpool inspired thousands of women to play the sport, according to a survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of England Netball.
New Zealand defeated Antipodean rivals Australia in the final, with England claiming the bronze medal.
A record-breaking 112,000 tickets were purchased, with all England games a complete sell out.
But the positive after effects of the tournament are still being felt, with England Netball calculating from the survey that 160,000 adult women who followed the tournament were inspired by the Vitality Netball World Cup to start playing netball or more netball.
After the event ended in July, England Netball recorded a 1000 per cent increase in visits to its online netball session finder compared to two weeks prior to the tournament.
Over 900 new schools registered for its U11 Bee Netball programme and 71 per cent of clubs say they had more people showing an interest in playing than before the tournament, according to England Netball's Big Netball Conversation survey.
It seemed as though everyone was talking about netball during that time and the buzz around Liverpool was spine-tingling.
Joanna Adams, who held the position of CEO of England Netball during the tournament before announcing her departure from the organisation after 10 years, said: "The Vitality Netball World Cup was an absolute whirlwind and a huge success.
"It was the best sold Netball World Cup to date and we had 9900 people register their interest to volunteer at the tournament, plus extensive press coverage across the 10 days.
"It seemed as though everyone was talking about netball during that time and the buzz around Liverpool was spine-tingling. Whilst the Vitality Roses didn't get the colour they were gunning for, they truly had the backing of the nation during every game and inspired many to have a go at the sport.
"To see a sea of red and white filling the arena during every England game will be a memory that stays with me forever.
"To the Netball World Cup team, all the volunteers, athletes, umpires, partners, fans and everyone else who played a part, thank you for making this a phenomenal success and for putting netball in the limelight once again following last year's gold medal success at the Commonwealth Games."
England can be seen on home soil for the first time since the Netball World Cup in January 2020 as part of the Vitality Netball Nations Cup, which will see the Roses take on New Zealand, South Africa and Jamaica.
