#9 Team White - can’t play without them!

There is no doubt in my mind that my playing game improved when I started to umpire! It was a while ago now and my foray into umpiring wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience but I’m glad I persisted and have my ‘C Award’ to my name.

As a Coach I am very respectful of umpires: always drumming into players, especially youngsters, that you cannot play the game without Team White and encouraging them to pick up a whistle themselves. I take a very dim view of players complaining about umpires or officials. My standard answer to players commenting that they lost a game because of the umpiring is normally ‘we should have never have let the game be so close that anyone else could potentially influence the result’.

That’s not to say I always agree with umpires’ decisions or their interpretations of the rules though! Netball is a competitive game - we keep score and Netballers are by large a passionate lot, so there is always bound to be some issues, somewhere along the line!

Regular readers will know that I returned to play recently after 3 years on the sidelines due to injury. What has struck me most about my return is how much the game has changed. I don’t play at any great standard but the league we play in does need ‘C’ Award umpires to officiate games. It’s MUCH more physical, I feel a lot more contact is ‘let go’ and umpires are allowing ‘contest’ much more frequently.

On enquiry to umpires- some I know and many I don’t, there has been no official rule changes, clarification or advice around these rules during my time out.

Unfortunately and I am making some admission here, I got my first ever warning on a netball court recently! I am ashamed, particularly as it was in front of team mates who i often coach and are of an age where they are impressionable. In all honestly though I do believe three years ago there would have been a call, I wouldn’t have been impeded when I took the shot and such blatant unsportsmanlike contact wouldn’t have been let go.

It’s also a complete coincidence that the umpire involved has umpired two of my teams matches so far this season. The only two games we have lost.

My concern is that netball is being broadcast heaps more and is much more accessible (a good thing obvs!) but that is influencing viewers’ own games - it’s my view and I am sticking to it!

I’ve played GS more or less 90% of the time since my return and I have no other explanation for the bumps and bruises that my fellow county league players, thinking they’re Katrina Rore or Courtney Bruce, impact on me! I have news for you my opposite numbers: you are not! You cannot do a Geva roll without contacting, you can’t squat like Rore and you don’t train day in day out to ‘fly’ like Bruce! Equally, my stats are not Jo Harten- esq - but that’s just damaging my pride rather than my body!!!

It will be interesting, particularly in a couple of seasons’ time, to see if ‘grass roots’ or intermediate netball is seeing an increase in ‘serious’ injuries like ACLs and Achilles tears. I believe we will and I believe it will be down to the additional physicality of the game.

I don’t have a solutions. I’m not sure there is one. I’m not even sure it’s agreed that there is a problem!

The standard ‘best practice’ for all levels of competition is that umpires are actually volunteers. They may be paid expenses for travel, accommodation etc but they are not actually paid for their skills and time actually umpiring. Depending on the standard being umpired these volunteers have a high costs to do what they do: Equipment, qualifications, kit, CPD, travel not to mention the time they dedicate to training, fitness, reviews. For me, this is just so wrong. At the highest level we have amateurs officiating professionals.

Professional Netballers’ injuries, the plight of our ‘amateur’ top international umpires and the physical and mental stresses of elite players are all thoughts for another day!

The bottom line is that netball cannot take place without umpires. 99% of them are there for the very best of reasons and they deserve the respect that often I’m afraid they do not get. Lets make it a New Years’ Resolution to be more appreciative of #TeamWhite !

#8 Great Expectations

I have a love / hate relationship with social media. I wouldn’t have been as successful as I was / have been in getting new participants into netball, without it. That’s for certain.

But I also realise and am often left speechless by some of the downfalls!

Recently I have been reading (and sighing a lot) over netballers complaints / queries / concerns over various league and competition ‘ailments’ with almost daily demands for updates / solutions!

Concerns, mostly from local leagues or social set ups, amount from floodlight failures, moss on courts, weather cancellations, time it takes to cancel because of the weather, state of posts and toilet cleanliness. The list is quite seemingly endless and I have to be honest, if I was one of the army of (mostly) volunteers, up and down the country, reading this drivel, I  would tell the authors to poke it somewhere the sun doesn’t shine!

I never realised before that grass roots Netballers were such a needy lot!

Many of these concerns are completely out of organisers’ control and I really do wonder what planet these concerned parties live on!

Organisers are many things,  but I’ve yet to meet one who can successfully predict weather patterns, stop floodlight failures before they happen or carry screws in their pocket incase the post comes apart! (I mean, not even the professionals carry screws around - This years Fast5s event was evidence of this! ) 🤦🏽‍♀️

Many of these concerns lie at the feet of the facilities management ( schools, leisure centres, local authority courts etc) and believe me, netball facilities is a whole blog in itself! (Definitely to be written!)

Netball complainants are not writing Facebook posts and tagging the facilities in twitter posts though! (Not that it would probably make a difference!) they are not adding praise to their posts when something goes right either!

It’s the poor schmucks who are often court side well before everyone else, sweeping glass of the tarmac, picking up dog poo off the courts or switching on floodlights to make sure they are at full pelt  for when everyone else arrives, that get it in the neck!

I’ve written before about how we need to appreciate volunteers more and to a certain extent I am repeating myself here. However, I think there are more considerations to take from this pretty sad state of affairs.

Firstly, how we use social media in netball (in fact in general!) and who reads what we communicate!   Do we all, as proud Netballers have a responsibility to ensure our great game is not bought into disrepute? Would a seemingly harmless Facebook comment about the state of the courts on a particularly cold night, put off new to Netballers and perhaps steer them to the warmth of an indoor Zumba class or badminton court?

There is something to be said here for the league social media policy and examples they set themselves on social media platforms. (I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve read umpire or scorer requests on league Facebook pages without a ‘please’ in sight!)

Secondly, being grateful for what we do have!

A long time ago now I coached and played in a local league in Sydney, Australia. Heffon Park has / had 16+ outdoor courts all with immovable posts so you could go and practice whenever you wanted.

I was and still am green with envy - you don’t get venues in the UK with 16 courts (or if you do I’ve never visited or even heard of them!) and even if there are I doubt very much you can rock up and use them for free! (Cost will be written about in that facilities blog I was talking about earlier!)

Now imagine how the participants we see through the Netball Development Trust’s (https://www.netballtrust.co.uk/ ) work feel looking at our courts? These are Netballers who may be playing in barefoot on mud or dust courts with chalk markings.

I guess it’s all a question of perspective!

I’ve made the point that we need to take care of our netball volunteers, because netball opportunities don’t happen without them!

For me, part of this, is making sure we use social media responsibility. When was the last time you read a ‘thank you’ post on your local league Facebook page or ‘what a great game thanks Southsea Scarlets’ on Twitter ?

Why not?

We’re very quick to take to social media when if all goes wrong on and around the netball courts, why not turn it around and be a leader in women’s sport and use social media for better  purposes?

Perhaps the revolution starts here!

#7 Fast5s

I’ve always been a big supporter of ‘other’ forms of our great game! That interest started in 2010 when I accompanied Netball students from a college I was working at, at the time, whilst they volunteered at the World Netball Series in Liverpool!

The tournament featured the best 6 countries in the world playing the ‘FastNet’ format, 7 aside but with the Powerplay, alternative centres and a version of the ‘shoot from outside the circle’ rule that we see in the Fast5s format of today. It’s also featured the then up & coming’ players Caitlyn Bassett, Ash Brazil & Jo Harten - my fast developing ‘neek-ness’ going into overdrive!

The pyrotechnics, music and the outstanding skills of Malawian netball legend Mary Waya really captured the imagination. Liverpool, as we know, can really put on a show and the excitement of our students really got under my skin! 😉

Fast forward 7 years and I was invited to the first Matchroom Fast5s event held at the O2 in London. I was excited to be taking a group of netball volunteers who really deserved a treat and we had a great day out (despite some pretty horrendous pregnancy sickness when no one knew I was pregnant lol!).

Shamefully, it only occurred to me later that I actually had the best day because of the people I was with rather than the actual event!

In reality the 02 was barely a third full, the action just not quite at full pelt and with rules not always being understood fully, from memory, some teams didn’t even play their Powerplay. Still, we got the tickets for free (rent a crowd anyone!?!) and as I say we did have a great girls day out!

Since then and with England Netball’s support NETS has grown in popularity and in stature. It’s not a format I have seen ‘live’ as venues are somewhat of a problem it seems, but the various mixed, 7 aside and 6 aside formats are heavily spoken about on netball podcasts and the recent ‘World Cup’ in South Africa was live streamed. It’s a format that’s popular in the Southern Hemisphere and I predict will continue to grow in popularity here, especially  if EN continue and up their support and more venues are secured.

Red Bull Switch Up is also a format I have yet to see ‘live’. With such a big global company behind it the future looks bright. This year’s event take place in Manchester later this month. The Commercial input somewhat concerns me  (see previous blog: The corporate stain on the netball community!) but you can’t deny that another form of our great game can only take it to different audiences and different platforms - which can be no bad thing for the wider netball ‘brand’.

Such was my Fast5s experience in 2017 and with a new born baby to care for, I decided not to go the 2018 Fast5s  - wasn’t offered free tickets either 😉

I did watch on Sky Plus though and the change of venue to the Copperbox ( a terrific venue for netball despite my strong reservations about the lack of healthy food they serve!) a better understanding of the rules and the AWESOME appearance of Sharni Leyton in a Roses dress (except
it wasn’t really was it!?!) whetted my appetite for more!

I found myself at the 2019 Fast5s event last month with family and friends as part of my birthday celebrations! I made sure we had full bellies before entering (same old hot dogs, chips and candy floss at the Copperbox was noted!) and we had a cracking afternoon!

Unfortunately Sharni Layton wasn’t appearing and you weren’t really  going to top her to be honest! Goal machines Jo Harten and Rachel Dunn provided some breathtaking entertainment though and it was no surprise they ended up in the final with their respective teams Loughborough Lightning and Wasps.

For me the ‘broken post’ provided the best entertainment - always have a spare one if you can!

But, seriously, the atmosphere, Jodie Gibson as court-side commentator and and competition itself (it was a real spectacle) was netball at its best, in whatever format you choose to watch!

#6 Incredible Women

I read an article recently, from Australia, ( it’s actually here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-14/how-netball-clubs-lure-professional-women/11489230?pfmredir=sm ) that got me thinking about all the incredible women I have met through netball.

The article (in case you didn’t read it in the above paragraph!) was very much about ‘country / outback’ netball, the ‘release’ netball gives hardworking women and the challenges they overcome to be successes in their careers, as well as on court. It’s an inspiring read and one that reminded me what inspirational and influential women I have had the pleasure to share time with on and off the court!

My Back to Netball coaching & Walking Netball hosting days are particularly interesting to this subject. To get to know your participants, a hugely important part of the success of these programmes, one of the questions regularly asked is ‘what do you do / did you do for a living?’ I always used to listen out for the most surprising answers which included a radio jingle composer, a clown (children’s entertainer) and antiques expert. (An actual celeb of sorts!)

A few years ago now I was asked to coach a group of non Netballers (pre back to netball days) who were all new to the area, staying for a year, as part of a multi agency military project! (DSTL if you want a Google!)

The project was shrouded in mystery and the netball part was a bit of ‘team bonding’ but I was able to confirm I had a number of pilots, scientists, mathematicians and professors in the ranks! It might have been a military ‘thing’ but just the way these women held themselves was impressive, as well as their enthusiasm and quickness to form a ‘team’ environment despite not really knowing each other outside of their top secret project!

Professional Services also seem to be keen on offering netball as an out of office opportunity to their workforce. Solicitors and accountancy firms make up many a team in local social leagues and have been popular, along with universities, colleges and schools, at fun, mixed festivals.

My experience of coaching such ‘office’ teams is plentiful and it’s the way the ‘hierarchy’ mix is what impresses me most: Senior Partners earning mega bucks mixing it up with cleaners and receptionists. On court it doesn’t matter how much you earn or what decisions you are responsible for: you are all important cogs of a successful machine.

You don’t have to have a first class degree  to enjoy netball and provide inspiration to others! (Obviously!)

Regular readers will know I had the best time at the World Cup in Liverpool this past summer - what really made it though was the people I went with. Women from all walks of lives, all of whom I have met through netball in some way or another! Some have known me since I was a baby, others I babysat when they were babies!

In that mix are family and non family, all ages, backgrounds and born in far flung places, married, divorced and everything in between. Those who are highly educated, those who aren’t, those who are retired and live comfortably, those who will probably never retire. Mums, Nans and those who haven’t had children: some who would like to, others that haven’t or didn’t. Some well travelled, others not so. All with different experiences in life, stories to tell and secrets to keep. All unique in their own ways.

You probably wouldn’t see them together in any other walk of life. But netball, well it’s special isn’t it? It brings together incredible women!

#5 Blue Rinse Brigade, I salute you!

I have an admission to make! I wasn’t a very nice netballing teenager!

There are many examples of my terrors but the one that demonstrates this aptly follows: I organised a petition to get rid of our County Under 18 Coach because I thought she was useless! I am ashamed. Obviously I would deal with such circumstances in a very different way now, I’m less than a year away from the big 4-0, after all!

I had a bit of a problem with netball authority you see and liked to rebel against the establishment. (Some of you reading this may be chuckling to yourself thinking not a lot has changed!)

Unfortunately, in my area, most of these figures were women of a certain age who had been in their voluntary positions for many years. They weren’t necessarily open to new ideas or suggestions from a stroppy teenager who didn’t have a polite word to say to anybody!

Therefore, I did label a fair few of them (near and far) the Blue Rinse Brigade!

Perhaps that age milestone is playing on my mind a bit! I look round at my club training sessions now and think ‘Wow! some of these girls are young enough to be my daughters - they must think I am ancient! I’m far off a blue rinse yet, however as a Coach who is always wanting to progress I am mindful of the relationship I have with these team mates and charges and will continue to be so.

As I typed that previous paragraph I realised  that actually my own mother is part of that training session, so therefore many of those players are young enough to be her granddaughters! She won’t thank me for that but I will redeem myself my stating she still outclasses many of them! 😉

I am also one to reminisce and love a netball memory or two!

We had an awesome volunteer Chairperson of the local league, who was committed, reliable, highly organised, fair and sooooo incredibly passionate about netball. She wore many netball volunteer hats and was actually the person I sent the aforementioned petition too!

Now, understandably, after that point we didn’t really get along that well! Our paths crossed a few times (she was an assessor of my Umpire C Award for example - story for another time!) and a few years later she retired out of the area.

Now, has netball in the area ever really been the same since she left? Hell no. Like any league or area structure we have our netball ups and downs but it’s definitely a case of not knowing what you’ve got until it’s gone!

Another example of how not to stereotype our more mature netball volunteers comes from the Coaching Network I set up just over a year ago.

Knowing that coaching can be a very isolating experience and with a need for more support in our area, I invited some local coaches to get together once a month to share ideas, best practice and lend a hand to each other, when needed.

It’s been a great success, even if I do say so myself (!) but an important part of that success is the contribution of our eldest member, who will probably be reading this and panic stricken that I’ve mentioned her!

Her willingness to listen is what I’m most impressed by. She listens to hear, not to react. Yes, she contributes a huge amount. She has bundles of experience and her knowledge and stories are of great benefit to the rest of the group but, by her own admission, she wants to stay fresh and benefits just as much, if not more, than the rest of the group.

I have discussed with her how much I admire her attitude and commitment to stay up to date and admitted that I find it refreshing, as it’s not always been my experience with coaches or netball volunteers older than me! If I am half the coach this lady is, when I am her age, I will be exceptionally happy.

Perhaps my views, in the past and in the present, are ageist. If that is the case I really do apologise and promise to do better. Whilst my behaviour as a young Netballer wasn’t always to my own standards now, you do hold views based on your own experiences.

What I have learnt though that not all ‘Blue Rinse Brigaders’ are out to ruin your netball experiences! They have values and experiences that can benefit your own, they hold legacies that should not be ignored and more than that, the vast majority of them have been volunteering in netball for donkey’s years. The truth of the matter is you might not be playing without them!

I salute you Blue Rinse Brigade, I apologise for my past behaviours and will embrace you all from now on. Thank you for your devotion to netball!

Just for the record, when the time comes I will be going for the purple rinse! 💜

#4 Poaching - & I’m not talking eggs!

My memories of being bought up around a netball court (you’ve always wondered why I am like I am, right?!) are largely positive. I was surrounded by strong, feisty women playing a sport they loved and I was learning the importance of being in a team, organisation, leadership and loyalty. (amongst other things)

Loyalty is a really important to me, not just in netball, but in everyday life. I have high expectations of people and when they fall short, I am left disappointed.

One memory I do have was the ‘scandals’ involving ‘poaching’. It’s not a word you hear in netball circles so much these days but it basically means (my understanding anyway) ‘a player leaving a club for a rival club, not in the best of circumstances’

Whilst it may not be called the same, we all know it happens.

I’ve always been confused by the motivations of the player involved and, more so, the reasons they give for moving teams.

As a fairly experienced coach, I understand the need for players to keep improving and have actually encouraged players, particular young, potentially talented athletes, to move on and fulfil their potential. This normally happens in a very positive and structured way, with the support of all coaches, parents or guardians and it is what is best for the player. In my experience it has reaped benefits with the player going on to fulfil that potential and have the best netball experience possible.

My only one slight ‘splitting of hairs’ in this situation is  the ‘elite’ club seemingly taking all the credit for the development of said player. That may well be a blog for another day!

‘Poaching’ by way of its nature is not done in a positive, structured way. I would say it is fraught with deception, deflection and down right dishonesty! It’s not what i’m In netball for and i’d prefer not to have to use such language to describe any part of our great game.

My first experience of ‘poaching’ was actually the ousting of a volunteer Coach by players and not one, thankfully, that has been repeated.

We’re talking a local league club, contenders for league title each season, but by no way would the players have gone and played at a higher level. I was around 11 years old at the time and my Mum was a player, very loyal (there’s a pattern here!) to club and Coach and was upset and VERY angry that, when we returned from holiday, a new Coach had been installed. No conversation, no meeting, no Thank you. All very underhand.

Mum (and me & sis) left for another club (who, it transpires, had been after Mum for years but did not ‘poach’ players!) and her former team mates lasted another season before going their separate ways. So that was all worth it 🙄

In more recent times, as a Coach, I have been a ‘victim’ (I use the word loosely)  of poaching. Players, many who had been with the club for a long time, upped and left for a rival club who frankly seemed to have promised the earth.

It’s worth arguing here that a player may not consider leaving if all was well with the original club. Believe me I have agonised over this in certain situations but isn’t it still worth a conversation?

I’ll be honest and say I have been bitter about it - we had gone through county league qualification and promoted to regional together and the future was bright. They were a group of talented, super smart players and I thought we were a tight unit.

And here is where ‘poaching’ rears it’s ugly head and is different from players moving on to better themselves.

‘Poaching’ is unkind - by not having a conversation with those who have invested in you, given you patience, time, effort and motivation, shows a lack of respect that can be very difficult to get over.

Coaches and team organisers, worth their salt, would wish players wanting to better themselves, well on their netball journeys, should they want to move on. But they would need to know to be able to do that! Coaches and team organisers are worth their weight in gold but I have not met any that are psychic.



I have a real detest for text messages, emails and what’s app for delivering important messages and bad news - not just in netball but in daily life!

The people involved in poaching, those who plant the seed, have, in my opinion, very low standards, not to mention morals.

How would you like bad netball news to be delivered?

1. Over a coffee / glass of wine ‘Thank you so much for all you have done for me and my netball. I have had a great time and learnt lots but I think it’s time to move on. I’d like to do so in a positive way’

2. Text message late at night ‘I’m moving teams to play with my friends’.

When it’s put like that, for me at least, it’s a no brainer.

I have not had the experience coaching children that I have had with adults so my understanding of ‘poaching’ in junior netball is largely second hand. You only have to scroll through social media, though, to know it happens.

My view is that it’s the adults in these situations who need to take a long hard look at themselves and the example they set to impressionable children or young adults. I have long been a believer that juniors don’t just learn netball skills and drills / team work in their junior netball experiences - they learn about attitudes, respect, behaviour, discipline and relationships. They learn these from their leaders, their organisers, their coaches and their parents / guardians.

Perhaps I have a rose coloured view of the netball world. I have, after all, been at the same club for 28 years now! Wowsers! I do acknowledge that that level of loyalty (there’s that word again!) and commitment is not common these days - not just in netball, or even sport, but in everyday life.

I wonder, particularly with all the signings news coming out of Vitality Superleague at the moment, if ‘poaching’ happens at the elite level too. Surely a more professional league means more professional behaviour?

In conclusion I don’t necessarily think it’s about netball,, moving teams or loyalty. I think it’s about common decency, consideration  and respect. Perhaps ’ballers  need more of it!

#3 The corporate stain on the netball community

I’ve lost count of the number of times a local ‘corporate’ netball  league has appeared on my Facebook timeline.

I gather, I am a targeted audience member, you see. I am in the ‘right’ geographical area - mainly where Back to Netball has been successful, I suspect. And I fit into one of two specific groups

1. Twenty something ambitious career woman with disposable income (I wish)

or

2.  Yummy mummy who has no spare time on her hands but would enjoy ‘ a night out’ reminding herself what it is to be young, with  no responsibilities, again. (That may well be me!)

‘The Corporates’ (as defined by me) are the money-driven companies with head offices normally at the other end of the country, offering ‘rock up and play’ netball at astronomical prices. I feel in my rights to label them ‘astronomical’ because I know what they are charging in respect to what they are paying out! Make no bones about it, they are there for the money, not for the netballer!

Their success, I believe, firstly comes from doing their research, (kudos to them!) targeting the areas where Back to Netball and other such programmes have been popular, but (and it’s their own fault) the NGB hasn’t necessarily acted quick enough to offer participants a exit route, if they indeed want one. Think Portsmouth, Southampton, London, Newcastle and Bristol. But by no means are they the only cities these companies have aggressively targeted!

My own experience of these ‘corporates’ hasn’t been great.

One, I believe, sent a ‘spy’ in the guise of a ‘coach who’d like to offer something back to netball by volunteering / coaching at a Back to Netball session’. Pumped me for information (perhaps I was naive but I had no idea 00GA was operating in netball circles!) Only never to reply to any emails, voicemails or even say hi to me in passing again! Yes, she was known to me. Yes, it does make it worse!

Another,  I was ‘forced’ to work with in my previous role and let’s just say they got a lot more out of the deal than I, or EN did. Lesson definitely learnt. By me, at least.

Now let’s be clear, I have no problem at all with people making money out of netball.

I never have done and indeed, if it wasn’t for ‘All About Netball’ in my area (an organisation, wrongly, I believe, regarded as a ‘corporate’ by netball bigwigs) then the 5,000+ ‘ballers who walked through the doors in my previous position,  would not have had an exit route. Many of them still play in this ‘fun & friendly’ league and are very happy doing so.

All About Netball, and other organisations like them, have their priorities right, you see. It’s the netball first and the money second.

Now, I’m no expert in business and I’m not going on Dragons’ Den anytime soon, but this to me makes sense in any business plan. If the ‘customer’ is happy then they return, they tell their friends, they are hungry for more and start talking umpiring courses, coaching courses and the like.

In my area the ‘traditional’ leagues have declined mainly due to the ‘corporates’ turning up. Let’s be honest many of these ‘7 birds & a ball’ leagues are run by volunteers who have sat on the league committees for years. They are not about change and they are not about rolling with the times.

With the success of Back to Netball and Netball Now though we have a new breed of ‘baller who will not sit through 3 hour league meetings, accept points deductions because their signature doesn’t match, when it was scrawled on a wet & windy night,  or pay a £5 fine for not wearing full length leggings because it’s in the league rules to do so! (True story!)

Which is where the problems begin I feel. These ‘corporates’ actively target players who just want to ‘rock up and play’. Their netball experience is sketchy and probably limited to school and they don’t necessarily know any better. £6 for a 40minute game of netball (often 32 as no ‘baller carries a stopwatch round with them on court!) with one umpire and a mention on social media for the POM, is acceptable.

Down the road there’s a league at half the price, better organised, with more match time and support for those who wish to progress with umpiring, coaching etc if they wish. Theres always two umpires and even more than that mentors actively supporting up & coming officials. There’s a development plan for those who want to be involved but equally, for those who truly want to just rock up and play, the experience is player- centred and for my money, first class.

I’ve talked openly and honestly about the evolution of netball in my blog, for better or for worse. In my opinion, the ‘corporates’ will never truly ‘succeed’ or dominate because they’re not putting the netballer first.

True netball fans, volunteers on local leagues and dare I say, our netball NGB,  need to wake up and smell the coffee though - ‘corporates’ are not going away: they have the money & resource to ‘hook’ ladies in and there is  always a steady turnover of personnel because they’re not interested in where the money comes from, as long as there is a steady flow!

 It’s true ’ballers  responsibility to offer these ladies an viable alternative: a netball experience so good that they will never want to leave our great game!

Now, who’s up for the challenge!?’

#2 Who’d be a volunteer!?!

I have the most enormous respect for volunteers, from all walks off life, but, of course, slightly more for netball volunteers! 😉

There’s been a huge push, rightly so, in recent years for ‘rock up and play’ netball: aimed mainly at ladies who are inactive, lacking self esteem and / or time poor. Programmes such as Back to Netball, Netball Now and Walking Netball have been unbelievably successful.

I believe, this has come at somewhat of a cost, with enormous pressure on already busy volunteers and the very nature of the programmes, not necessarily providing fresh blood!

 I wonder if you know who  in your netball club or team,  does the following things?

🏐 Orders equipment and kit
🏐 Puts out posts
🏐 Makes sure first aid kit is replenished
🏐 Washes the bibs
🏐 Works out the finances
🏐 Organises the end of season shin-dig

That’s just a few ‘duties’ off the top of my head, before we even think about affiliations (ENgage doesn’t seem to be making things any easier at the moment. But there was always going to be teething problems!), league entry, safeguarding and first aid courses and the dreaded CAPs accreditation. I have the misfortune of being in charge of my clubs reaccreditation at the moment, for the second time! (‘Please help Debs, it’s so much easier now it’s online!’ Liars!)

And that’s just team or club volunteers, let’s not get started on those wonderful people who dedicate time to league committees, county committees, regional and higher! These people have huge responsibilities for governing and organising netball on a large scale and very rarely get the credit they deserve.

I’m a passionate advocate of netball volunteers - always first to fight their cause in my former role for the National Governing Body. And always eager to point out their dedication and sacrifice to any ‘ballers (especially those not contributing!) if they criticise!

There is just not enough consideration for those organising netball, from those who participate, in my opinion!

For example - we’re playing in a couple of pre season tournaments, the first one tonight. What’s App has been pinging with organisational stuff such as kit, bibs, umpiring responsibilities etc and also with excitement from players!

Ping goes What’s App, this morning, one player, who frankly should know better ‘Cant play tonight ladies!’. Not even an apology, but that aside, there’s been no consideration that she’s on the umpiring rota, or that if we can’t get someone to replace her we are actually short of £s to enter the tournament!  That’s not to mention the effort that’s gone in to getting a team together in the first place.

It’s also that time of the year where trials / selections are being completed. The amount of time and effort that goes into organising these selections is quite phenomenal and you just wouldn’t realise unless you have been involved! Consideration has to be made to every players’ 1st, second and sometimes third positions, what combinations you play to ensure fairness, every player gets similar court time, you have independent selectors and umpires and most of the time that’s not enough! You always get trialists who don't turn up at the last minute - throwing all those considerations up in the air! You also get players who have no intention of sticking around if they don’t get into the team they think they should be in - what a waste of time and energy that is!

I don’t believe it’s a netball problem, I don’t believe it’s a sport problem. I actually think it’s a society issue but we will leave the ‘snowflake’ debate for another day!

Going back to my ‘off the top of my head’ list above. It does occur to me that that list of things that needs to be done on a regular basis, in order for netball to happen, may well be completed by just one person! That person is likely to have a family, work full time, or both. He or she doesn’t get paid to do those things, I would bet money that they aren’t even thanked for doing them, regularly. Yet, so many people benefit from the actual action of them being completed.

I am also passionate about awards for volunteers as I think this is one of the best ways to recognise and acknowledge their efforts. Imagine my surprise when I couldn’t nominate my Walking netball volunteers for the NGB Goalden globe awards because they’re not affiliated! A strong example of our fabulous game evolving fast but the infrastructure that supports it, not evolving fast enough!

I also feel for Coaches.

Now, many coaches, including grass roots are paid for their work, which is a great step forward and sets out progress for the future, where we may well see more professional netball coaches at different levels.

A quick poll of my fellow local coaches ( and I understand this isn’t very scientific but it’s just an example!) confirms that most qualified Level 2’s earn an average of £15 for an hours session. Not a bad payment for an hour of doing what you love, you may think! Now consider the following:

🏐 Planning session
🏐 Sorting equipment
🏐 Planning rehab / programme for injured players
🏐 Travel
🏐 Post session analysis
🏐 Communication of analysis / team selection
🏐 Dealing with after hours player queries

🏐 CPD / qualifications

Now think £15 is a good deal?

I have less experience or knowledge of other roles such as umpires, assessors, mentors, timers, scorers - the list is endless! But I bet they are also on the end of a pretty raw deal and more often than not do it for the love of the game!

There is no doubt that these wonderful volunteers wouldn’t do it if they didn’t want to. . I commend them, support them and thank them often for their passion, hard work and dedication. I know what it’s like to be a volunteer and I also know what it’s like to try and manage and motivate volunteers. I’m privileged to see both sides.

So, it’s my request after reading this blog that I ask ‘ballers to do two things please:

🏐 Say thank you the next time you see your Captain / Coach / netball volunteer. Believe me it goes a long way.

🏐 Have some consideration for what goes in to making netball happen! Sometimes we can’t help cancel best laid plans and it’s the last thing we want to do. Shit happens!

BUT if it’s just because you can’t be bothered or it’s your Uncles, girlfriends’ cousins’ dog’s birthday party (I’ve heard worse excuses!) have a think about those who could be bothered to make that game, that tournament or that other netball event, happen for you.

Up and down the country week on week, month after month and year after year netball volunteers create thousands of opportunities for ‘ballers to actually play. Imagine if they didn’t.

#1 ACL injury - a netball epidemic

Here I go again!

I LOVED writing my Netball World Cup 2019 blog and had some lovely feedback on it, so here I am again! Regular readers will have gathered by now, I can’t keep my mouth shut (or typing fingers still!) so I’ve decided to fill the World Cup void with more thoughts, considerations and probably even more questions, on general netball ‘stuff’!

I hope it’s informative and entertaining! As always, it be from the heart and with netball’s best interests at the forefront!

I speak with some authority (but by no means an expert) on ACL injuries as I am (fingers crossed!) returning to the court this season after nearly three years out after rupturing my right ACL...........obviously playing netball 🙄 For reasons not even the professionals can tell me, after 258 days waiting for the op, a year of rehab, an arthroscopy operation and more rehab, I still don’t have full range of movement and unlikely to do so now.

Before my own unfortunate incident I have coached a fair few players through their own ACL injuries and rehab and I can tell you something for certain. I will coach the next one to succumb to it a damn sight better than previous players’ You see you don’t really know the disappointment, the isolation, the monotonous rehab effort, until you’ve done it yourself. They are the closest adjectives I can use but they really don’t do ‘the ACL feeling’ justice.

How England Rose Beth Cobden is going through it all for the 3rd time is just beyond my comprehension. I take my hat off to her.

I’m writing about ACL injury today as I am a passionate fan of Suncorp Super Netball and this past weekend of fixtures has seen two players’ rupture their ACLs with another suspected. Kelsey Brown of Collingwood Magpies (her sister who also plays for the same team did hers pre season) and Sasha Glasgow, Shooter for Adelaide Thunderbirds are both on the wrong end of scan results. Fellow Thunderbirds shooter Emma Ryde is, at the time of writing, waiting for her results.

I watched the Magpies game live and the despair and sickness I felt when I saw Brown’s
impact is unparalleled. Takes one to know one, I guess.

There are a lot of theories and commentary about the reasons why there are so many ACL injuries to elite Netballers in recent years.

These include:

🏐 workload and tiredness, especially for Suncorp Super Netball players recently returning from
 the World Cup.
🏐 women’s menstrual cycles
🏐 hereditary reasons (my sister did both hers when she was younger!)

The above reasons may also offer explanations for non elite Netballers and women from other sports who are victims to this cruel injury.

Just in my netball circle alone I know social Netballers, teenage Netballers, regional Netballers, Walking Netballers and local league Netballers who have succumbed to ACL rupture. One of my fellow coaches recently told me of her 10 year old niece who has also fallen victim. These females are not elite sports women and unfortunately I know first hand how this injury effects everyday life.

As much as I am devastated for Kelsey Brown and her elite netball colleagues I am also envious of them. After all if an ACL is going to happen anyway i’d like my operation to take place as soon as possible (did I mention 258 days wait!?!) with the best access to medical care including physios, facilities and equipment, would be how to do it!

Having said that, New Zealand Netballer Cat Tuiviti tore her ACL playing for Adelaide Thunderbirds, a few months after me. Her tweets and Instagram posts during her rehab really helped motivate  me when I was  suffering set backs galore!

It’s fairly evident, to me & scores of social media netball enthusiasts, that ACL injuries need more specific research. Any relevant research out there, conducted, analysed and written is exclusively completed on male athletes. So not really relevant at all then!

Pre World Cup, out going England Netball CEO Joanna Adams was interviewed by Sky Sports and asked about Beth Cobden’s injury. She commented that ACL injuries in netball definitively need research and her thoughts were that ‘we should be leading the way’. Let’s hope that work is already being undertaken and the new CEO sees it just as much a priority.

 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.skysports.com/amp/netball/news/12040/11741317/england-netballs-ceo-joanna-adams-keen-to-address-acl-injury-trend

Netball Australia put some money and resource into ‘the knee programme’ a few years back and I was lucky enough to see Australia Diamonds Lisa Alexander demonstrate the warm up, helping to prevent ACL rupture, at a coaching workshop in Winchester.

https://knee.netball.com.au/

I regularly go through this with my Jelly Tots Netball players who range from 4-7 years old. I figure the earlier we can instil these exercises in them, the more disciplined at doing them they become and with any luck, it will reduce the risk of these youngsters rupturing ACLs in the future.

Until more research is completed and results shared, it is the only thing we can do!