#10 Awards

Maybe it’s the FABULOUS news that England Roses team mates  Jo Harten & Serena Guthrie have been awarded MBEs in the New Years Honours list. Or maybe it’s because it’s the end of the year and I am reflecting on the successes and what I can do better in 2020! Either way I have been thinking about awards lately and how they can be used to thank our superb netball volunteers!

I have been lucky enough to be a recipient of nominations for awards and honoured to even win a few of them! I picked up ‘Supporter of the Year’ a long time ago at The News ( local newspaper) Sports Awards - allegedly beating John Portsmouth Football Club Westwood by one vote! (Google him, I promise you will not be disappointed!)

In 2017 the Back to Netball / Walking Netball Coaching Team in South East Hampshire won the ‘Making a Difference’ Award at the Energise Me Awards - it was a very special evening and a memory I will treasure forever.

On both occasions it was a very humbling experience. But, and I make no apologies for saying this: I deserved to win them. That’s not very humble but in this feminist age of pushing ourselves forward and not apologising for breaking glass ceilings: it’s true!

Our volunteers, of which I am proud to say I am one, do not get the credit they deserve from the ‘powers that be’ and it’s something I write and talk about a lot to try and highlight the fact! Without our volunteers there would be no netball. Fact.

Awards are a great way to acknowledge and thank our volunteers - let’s face it running a league, umpiring, table officiating, being a Team Manager and the other umpteen voluntary roles that happen up and down the country on a regular basis, is often a thankless task! You get more complaints and issues than you do praise!

I saw some promotion for the Goalden Globes on social media this morning, not for my geographical area but I believe the idea is that there is a county round: winners go through to regional level and then the regional winners go through to the National Awards. It’s a great idea, in theory.

Practically, for me, it doesn’t really work and hasn’t done for a long time! That’s not to take away from the award winners though - every single one of them, have contributed to the success of netball and are worthy recipients of the accolades.

Some of the issues I have with this particular netball- specific system is that a lot of netball volunteers can’t even be nominated! Up until 2019 (and let’s hope it’s changed for 2020!) most of the  individual awards had criteria including ‘nominee must be affiliated to England Netball’. My disappointment that I couldn’t nominate any, very worthy, walking netball volunteers often makes way for anger that we still haven’t addressed it after at least three years of me ‘banging on about it’!

I did raise it with a ‘netball bigwig’ once and the response was ‘get them affiliated then’. It’s a story for another time with a lot of sighs of exasperation!

Also, and this is important, not every county subscribe to the bigger picture of the awards! My county association, for example, didn’t organise any volunteer awards last year and the year before that it was the ‘netball volunteers awards’ rather than Goalden Globes - very different categories but again very worthy winners!

I think the Goalden Globes are another example (and there are a few now!) of where netball’s infrastructure and organisation has not kept pace with the development and success of the game. Perhaps netball is a victim of its own success, in this sense!

So, how about the non netball-specific awards? I LOVE seeing so many netball volunteers nominated and winning various awards up and down the country, through social media. There are the local area sports awards of course, which are normally council led or local sports partnership organised. You are reliant on budgets and also the ethos of these organisations though - sadly, but understandably, the Energise Me Awards finished in 2017. The County Sports Partnership became a charitable trust and the awards no longer met their aims and objectives. For me it’s a crying shame but I will always be very grateful and honoured that I was one of the final award recipients!

Some local newspapers also organise sports awards. My own experience of these were awesome. I saw our local sports awards grow from 50ish seat community theatres to the Guildhall decked out in all its glory! Sadly, these stopped a few years ago now and I suspect, as much as the original thoughts were full of good intentions, the award weren’t as financially beneficial for the newspaper as they once were!

My quest for nominating worthy netball volunteers continues, as in my area, at least, there doesn’t seem to be that many opportunities anymore. I’ve looked into ‘community awards’ that are not netball or even sports-specific. The trouble you have there of course is that the bigger the pool the more competition you have!

The forms you need to fill in are also immense - ironically not a lot of consideration for the nominators, who I assume will be 90% volunteers!

In conclusion I still believe that, in theory, awards are still a great way of acknowledging our netball volunteers. As well as the award winners it’s a great way of celebrating netball and sharing stories and successes with like minded people.

We need a find a format, a fairness and a system that works for the ever changing netball landscape though! I don’t think it’s the Goalden Globes - but, like our great game, it can evolve and I look forward to the day when I see one of my Walking Netball volunteers stride on to stage to pick up their award. They are worthy too.

#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!