Five reasons netball friends are so much better than regular friends.

In life, friends fall into either one of two categories…

Good friends. And netball friends.

OK yes, you will 100 per cent have infinitely more types of friends throughout the course of your life, but that’s irrelevant because the mates you make on the netball court will always – ALWAYS – come out on top.

Here are five reasons to prove just that, because there’s nothing like winning, sweat and bad umpiring to build friendships that last a lifetime.

You’re together through the ups and downs

Nothing tastes better than walking off the court with your team after a big win. Except for, of course, the post-win cider.

That said, it’s not until you’ve experienced a crippling loss you truly understand how much you need one another.

Because if there’s one thing that solidifies friendship, it’s an absolute thrashing.

You’ve seen each other at your worst

It’s no secret competitive sport has a knack for bringing out the parts of yourself you’d rather forget existed.

But when you’re two points down and the umpire wasn’t looking when the GD CLEARLY ELBOWED YOU IN THE BOOB, you can’t help but let out some choice words. Or perhaps even intentionally trip someone.

You’re almost always covered in sweat, red in the face, pulling bike shorts out of your crack and less than fresh under the arms – in other words, not your most attractive self.

And chances are, with all the jumping, dodging, defending and falling over in dresses that really classify as long tops, you've also seen a bit, erm, too much of each other.

Despite this, your netball friends never judge you. Rather, they accept you for who you are and what you bring to the team.

You're ~forced~ to see each other

Anyone who plays, umpires or is a devoted parent of a child that plays netball knows there is no season longer than a netball season.

Once you factor in pre-season training, trials, weekly training, Saturday afternoon matches, finals and presentation night, that's pretty much 10 months of your life dedicated to hanging out with the same people.

If you play summer season too, you should basically all just move in together because that's how often you'll be seeing each other.

More often than not, your netball friends know the intimate details of your life before anyone else because they are literally always there.

And while other friend catch-ups like coffee and dinner can be cancelled with a simple text, bailing on netball has MAJOR consequences. If you skip training, you can be sure you won't hear the end of it. Ever.

You have a common enemy

If there's one thing that forges the bonds of friendship, it's hating the same person.

In this case, it's the opposition. Every team has a rival enemy, and it's working together to pummel them into the ground year after year that brings you closer.

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They're always there if you need

Sure, it can get annoying when you're trying to shoot a goal on a windy day and bloody Cheryl won't stop yelling "HEEERRREEE" on the goal circle. But at least you know she's always there if you actually need her.

Both on and off the court, you can always rely on your netball friends to pick you up when you're down and stick around when you need them. Always.

Why are your netball friends the best people you know?

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