Netball Neophyte

Wow - I was so excited about the name for this blog post that I have writer's block on where to begin haha.

So PwC puts together an indoor netball team every year. I didn't join last year because I had never even heard of netball before and didn't want to make a fool of myself. But as I was talking to the girl that organizes the team, she said they have taught several people to play over the years and I thought, why not? I can accomplish several things by joining up: learning a new sport, getting more active and making friends.

My first game was pretty scary because I didn't know any of the rules or where I was supposed to be. It was pretty funny. I've played in four games now and it's definitely getting better. I always play the same position, wing defense, which means I at least know where I'm supposed to stand and who I am supposed to mark. But that's about it so far lol. 

Here are some of the basics, if you're interested (pulled from Wikipedia). 

1. Netball is a ball sport for two teams of seven players, predominantly played by women - we play in a coed league with 4 girls and 3 boys per team.
2. Games are played on a rectangular court divided into thirds, with a raised goal at each short end. The biggest difference from basketball hoops is there is no backboard. Make it much harder to shoot! 
   
3. The object of the game is for teams to score goals, by passing a ball and shooting it into their team's goal ring. 
4. Players are assigned "positions" that define their role within the team and restrict their movement on court. I play wing defense, which means I can only go in the back and middle thirds of the court, but not the goal circle.
5. During general play, a player with the ball can take no more than one step before passing it, and must pass the ball or shoot for goal within three seconds. No dribbling! It took me a few times to make sure I stopped moving before catching the ball, but I haven't been called for traveling in the past couple games. Also, passes have to go through each third as you move up the court. That means you can't pass from the goal you are defending all the way up to the goal scorer.
   
6. Goals can only be scored by the assigned shooting players. 
7. Netball games are 60 minutes long, divided into 15-minute quarters, at the end of which the team with the most goals scored wins. In our games, we just play two 15 minute halves and the only subbing is done during half time.

Brian came to watch me play tonight because my game was after Young Men's ended (usually they are at the same time). He was kind enough to take a few pictures so you could all see that I really am playing the game. Thanks baby!

You can't see the line, but I am stopped at the front of the middle third. I just sit and watch while my teammates shoot the ball and score (front right).

Here you can see me waiting on the line just in case we miss the ball and the other team gets the rebound.

The action shot is a little blurry, but I'm in the left corner passing the ball. Hopefully I made a good pass! (I have thrown quite a few away because I'm so out of practice - plus you don't get very long to hold the ball)

As you can see, I'm having a great time! It's a great cardio workout for me - there really is a lot of running around even though the pictures don't show it :)

And even though I'm the least experienced member of the team, I bring us good luck. Of the four games I've been to we have won 3 and tied 1. I'm pretty sure they have only one 1 of the games I haven't been to. I think I motivate everyone to pick up their game to make up for me being the weakest link haha. Thanks team for letting me play with you!