#46 Let’s talk about the booing!

Conservative guesstimate, 75% of you reading this will have volunteered at some point in your lives. 

Whether it’s coaching, umpiring or as a committee member. Maybe you book the venue for training, wash the bibs, order kit or equipment or organise your team socials. 

Perhaps your volunteering doesn’t take place within netball or sport - you might listen to children read at the local school, visit a vulnerable pensioner or help out at a community centre - I suspect we’ve all completed some sort of volunteering at some point in our lives. 

Now imagine completing your volunteering with a baying crowd all booing at you! 

That’s exactly the treatment of umpires I have been witness to this Superleague season. 

I had an interesting (and good-natured, polite) debate with some of my fellow Surrey Storm supporters at one of the last home games of the season. One very passionate Storm fan thought standing, gesticulating and booing the umpire, was acceptable. She was probably far more surprised that the said umpire was a volunteer, than she was at me, calling her out for the booing!

I’ve thought on more than one occasion this season that the Vitality Superleague, National Governing Body or even the franchises should possibly do something about the booing - I really feel that it’s not in keeping with the game. Not sure what though and for the umbrella organisations, at least, fan engagement hasn’t really been a strong point! 

No doubt we will hear booing at the Commonwealth Games next month. We hear it on TV watching the Suncorp Super Netball and ANZ leagues. 

I heard booing at the 2019 World Cup although I much preferred the crowd’s voice used for more positive reasons - ‘we want Dunn’ for example! 

All of these competitions’ umpires, (and table officials for that matter) are volunteers. They do not get paid for their umpiring. They may get ‘expenses’ towards their travel - but I doubt very much that covers petrol, wear & tear on vehicles, public transport, food and accommodation. 

Whilst we’re on the subject, umpires do not get paid for their physical training to make sure they are in peak condition to ‘keep up’ with mostly professional or semi professional athletes. They may get funding for qualifications and CPD if they’re lucky, but the form filling for funding and time spent undertaking practice and qualifications, will be voluntary. 

Ideally our umpires, table officials and other volunteers who make the game happen, will be recompensed appropriately, in time. Will I find booing acceptable then? Probably not, but that’s a debate for another day! 

Netball can’t happen without umpires. 

Let’s see if we can remember that in the CWG final when the GK is pulled for obstruction with a matter of seconds to go. 😉 

Footnote: in looking for an appropriate image to accompany this blog there was not one image of a specifically netball crowd ‘booing’ to be found! Long may that continue! 

#45 Where have all the Volunteers gone?

Before I start, this may well be an unpopular blog or at least divide opinion. Think Marmite. Which, non related issue, I am actually allergic too! 

There is no one more supportive of netball volunteers. You only have to read previous blogs, follow me on social media or see me ‘in action’ at an event to know that to be true! I’ve been a volunteer, I am a volunteer. Real volunteers need to be cherished. Netball doesn’t happen without them. 

The recent Sport England Active Lives survey has reported that we have 3.1 million LESS volunteers in sport compared to pre Covid numbers. The report rightly celebrates the 6.6 million volunteers making activity happen. 

Still, 3.3million is an astonishing amount. 

https://www.sportengland.org/blogs/how-future-volunteering-can-build-change

For someone who spends ALOT of time organising grassroots netball events - charity festivals, tournaments, pay & play etc etc I have had a surprising amount of difficulty recruiting volunteers, post lockdown. 

Traditionally I have had been extremely grateful for a vast spectrum of volunteers - young, up & coming umpires completing their volunteering hours for schemes like Duke of Edinburgh to more mature ladies, only too happy to bake and sell cakes for charity events.

The last six months or so, since festivals and the like, have been allowed, it has got a lot more difficult attracting these awesome people. Youngsters are more worried about catching up on studies, people are going away more because they can and to be honest, it just seems people have re-evaluated their lives and volunteering is no longer a priority. 

Even the volunteers who do come forward (this is where it’s going to get marmite!) don’t always seem necessarily happy to be there! 

I have experienced volunteers who are a hindrance rather than a help. Not necessarily any one person’s fault but I’ve been on the end of some very ‘flakey’ behaviour over the last few months and I’m so frustrated by it, I’ve decided (maybe unwisely!) to include it in a blog. 

I’m particularly incensed by fake volunteering. 

Definition: to offer to help but with no intention to actually follow through. An intention to volunteer, unless something better comes along! 

Sadly there are more than a few examples. I try to always go above and beyond to make sure that my volunteers are valued and appreciated - but perhaps I do need to revisit how I do this. 

The most unfathomable behaviour is ‘volunteers’ just not doing what they’ve offered to do! No one has made these volunteers ‘volunteer’! I just don’t get it! I would honestly prefer them not to volunteer at all, then put their hand up and then drop out or just not do what they’re supposed to. It causes more work for, guess who? VOLUNTEERS! 9/10 event organisers work voluntarily too! 

Unfortunately, I believe Covid-19 protocols provided ‘tick box’ exercises for people wanting to watch a netball game but because spectators weren’t allowed, ended up ‘being’ Primary Carers or Covid-19 Officers. Oh the irony! 

These positions are of the upmost importance. However unlikely, in the worst circumstances, these volunteers can be life / death decision makers - players deserve more than tick box spectators. 

But, listen, forgive my ‘Moaning Myrtle’ tirade. For every late volunteer or one that doesn’t turn up at all - I have at least 5 very special lovelies who do the most remarkable things to make netball happen! 

They are part of the 6.6million regularly washing bibs, taking up a whistle, booking venues, updating first aid qualifications and everything else that needs to be done in sport! They’re the ones Sport England are and should be celebrating! 

Why not join them? It’s a really special feeling giving something back to a sport that gives so much! 

But please, do it properly! 😉

#44 I 💜 Walking Netball

I was lucky enough to have a very small part to play in the initial national project, researching, writing and introducing Walking Netball in England. 

Ever since that first meeting I attended in London, I was hooked! 

It was always going to be a great way to transition those ‘full fat’ Netballers entering their twilight years, or those who sadly sustained a long term injury, into a more gentle version of our great game!

Perhaps, more importantly, opening up netball to a whole new audience. To those who have never played or maybe hadn’t donned a bib since school, which in some cases maybe more than fifty years! 

I consider myself very lucky to be a qualified Walking Netball Host. As with any other sports coaching role though it does come with responsibility! 

One of the most challenging aspects of delivering Walking Netball is when the two audiences collide - the ‘competitive’ more experienced Netballer transitioning out of the ‘normal’ game and the social walking netballer, whose motivations may be anything but netball - meeting new people, recently widowed, recovering from serious illness, wanting to be fitter….the list is endless! 

I don’t think it was something that was considered in those early days. 

It is a subject that has come up on the National Walking Netball Hosts Facebook page - a positive platform to share ideas, best practice & support fellow hosts. 

I think the question posed is along the lines of ‘What do I do with a new, overly competitive participant, who intimidates our regulars!’ 

Advice has been varied from, a somewhat harsh, ‘send them to Back to Netball’ to a more diplomatic ‘set out expectations before the session starts’. 

I’m lucky enough to have encountered and still host a variety of Walking Netball groups. I often cover sessions, set up and hosted regular sessions in my former job and currently host Walkie Talkies, our Monday night Walking Netball group which has been going for 3.5 years. 

My experience is you CAN manage these combinations of audiences successfully, but like all sports coaching, you need to get to know your participants and their motivations! 

They can even compliment each other! 

A case in point is two of my long term Walkie Talkies recently achieving their Walking Netball Host qualification. Their experiences in netball could not be more different. 

Julie is a traditional ‘baller who I’ve known for longer than either of us care to remember! She has been a player, Coach, Umpire and has held various committee roles. She’s been a loyal and committed netball volunteer for donkeys years! 

Carol is the opposite end of the spectrum - recently retired and loving life. She clearly loves supporting a variety of sports but hadn’t picked up a netball in decades! She takes every opportunity thrown at her with open arms and was the first to volunteer when the chance of the Walking Netball Host course arose! 

They absolutely compliment each other - Julie’s confidence and experience with Carol’s enthusiasm & understanding of non Netballers is a match made in Walking Netball Host heaven! I have absolutely no qualms about having a night off occasionally now! (And as a Surrey Storm season ticket holder with Monday night netball on the horizon, I will!) 

There are heaps of other successes I’ve been privy too but I think the key and common denominator is the Host! 

If you’re aware of the different participants in your group, with their different motivations, it is definitely a start!  Setting out expectations at the beginning of each session is also helpful, as is giving those more experienced participants more responsibility and more of a challenge when appropriate. 

My measure? If everyone leaves smiling & a bit flush, it’s been a good session and that is always my target! 

By far my favourite thing about Walking Netball is the opportunity to bring together women from all walks of life (pardon the pun!) that positively makes a difference to all our lives! 

#43 Tale of two Primary Schools

I made a promise to myself during our various lockdowns - that I’d step outside of my coaching comfort zone as soon as the opportunity occurred! 

I found myself agreeing to coach in two primary schools in September (absolutely out of my comfort zone!) and honestly my experiences could not be further ends of the spectrum from each other. 

Perhaps, with hindsight, the writing was on the wall from the start. School A approached me, firstly informally with enthusiasm & positivity and then followed up with an invitation to visit and a more formal chat about expectations.

In contrast, I approached School B and was met with the kind of response reserved for Theresa May at a Police Federation Conference. (Google it!) 

My decision to pursue junior opportunities was not just born out of self development. 

I am very passionate about giving  children opportunities to fall in love with sport - any sport, any child. Particularly after the last 20 months or so. The research and evidence is overwhelming - healthy children, who engage in physical activity regularly, become healthy, engaging, adults. 

I started Coaching the after school club at School B on the Wednesday. 24 hours later delivered for the first time at School A. With such a quick turnaround and a whole term of that timetable, it’s natural to compare the experiences.

Geographically the schools are a couple of miles from each other, inner city. School A is a Junior School, School B a recently amalgamated Primary School. There are many similarities in the general day to day running of the schools but in terms of my experience the differences are stark. 

Perhaps the easiest demonstration of this extraordinary difference is best explained in bolts! 

We had a problem with a bolt on one of the netball posts at School B pretty much from day 1. It had rusted solid & I couldn’t unscrew it to make the post taller - meaning our two posts were different sizes. 3 emails later, a direct conversation with the caretaker as well as another with the netball teacher and it still wasn’t fixed. 

It didn’t need much - I suspect some WD40. Five weeks later I sent another email mentioning those dreaded three words ‘Health & Safety’. Would you believe it, the next session I delivered, the posts was the same size! 

In stark contrast at School A, the posts that I had managed to acquire & donate to the school was missing a bolt after a couple of weeks. It had worked itself loose and a curious child had probably pocketed it as ‘treasure’, who knows!?! 

I mentioned the missing bolt after one session, no emails needed, it was fixed for the very next week. 

The list of contrasts is endless though.

School A required a donation to use the facilities (2 brand new netball posts and a donation of sports books to their library was the least I could do for such a fab welcome & experience!) Whilst School B quoted £15 a session. 

This is more than any non-floodlit netball court in my area - for a playground that isn’t even level! (to be fair I haven’t visited many playgrounds that are!) £15 is more than double the court I regularly use in the same area. 

School A let me borrow their netball equipment no problem. 

School B also let me borrow the kit but reserved the two full sets of 7 aside bibs for the ‘other’ school-run club! We were left with the old ‘High5’ and no letter bibs! 

I only realised they had ‘proper’ bibs when I ran into the School B older year netball team at a school tournament I was umpiring at!   

Obviously I took my own sets of bibs in to give these juniors the best possible experience. 

Which leads me to a disappointing conclusion. 

The whole point of taking myself out of my comfort zone was to give children the best possible first experience of netball. The intention to start them on a path of an active & healthy lifestyle with all the benefits that brings, as they grow up.

Unfortunately, despite best intentions, I feel I have failed with School B. I have taken the decision not to continue with the session in 2022. I did everything I could to improve the communication and circumstances I delivered in, but I have learnt over the years you do sometimes have to admit defeat! It’s a bitter pill to swallow. 

Spending days dreading coaching a session is not conducive to a positive experience for anyone. I feel like I have given the children the best possible experience in the circumstances, but definitely not up to my normal standards. I have done everything in my power to give them alternative opportunities and will follow up as appropriate. 

I am clear in conscious that everything I could do with School B was done! 

Happily, School A has invited me back to deliver in the Spring term and I have received sincere thanks from the school and parents / carers. 

It’s a session I look forward to each week, the staff at the school are super enthusiastic & supportive which definitely transfers to the children. 

I just really hope my experience with School B is the exception, rather than the norm. 

I realise schools and teachers have had a really difficult time of it and absolutely deserve some slack. Surely, there is a responsibility to pupils wellbeing and future health though and if School A has taught me anything, it’s that encouragement and support for activity can be done in the most challenging times, to the highest of standards. 

#42 Why we need to take Club Coaching more seriously

I LOVE being a netball coach, it’s the best role ever and I wouldn’t change it for the world! Like many coaches I wear a lot of hats, have experience of coaching different ages, different abilities; varying groups of people with different needs - more mature ladies at Walking Netball & those who have never played netball or haven’t played for a long time. I LOVE delivering Back to Netball! 

For the benefit of this blog though I’d like to discuss Club Coaching. Just for the sake of argument I am going to define ‘Club’ as more than one team, training regularly, competing & having a development emphasis within the ethos. 

I’ve been a Club Coach and whilst it definitely has its ‘ups’ and many of them, I believe it can also be an incredibly isolating job. Sadly, under appreciated - the burden of expectation from those around you, heavy on your shoulders. 

As we tentatively return to court with the hope all competition restrictions will be lifted in 2022, I am becoming increasingly worried about the lack of coaches and perhaps, more concerning, the loss of coaches in netball. 

For example, there are three ‘main’ or leading clubs in my area. They have varying ambitions and structures but one thing they all have in common is they have all been advertising for Coaches before this season commenced. 

There was a lack of Coaches before the pandemic and the problem is only going to get worse - unless we do something about it! I propose starting with appreciating what we have! 

Research amongst my peers clearly indicates that whilst we’ve all missed our great game during lockdown, it’s also given coaches plenty of time to reflect. 

Female coaches, with childcare, education, career progression and work / life balance issues (still more of a consideration than our male counterparts sadly) have decided that coaching no longer takes priority for a number of reasons. 

Disappointingly, ‘it doesn’t make me happy’ is front and centre. 

I realise this is not a scientific, geographic or official ‘poll’ but surely, just in my small square mileage of the South Coast  of England, it’s a very sad state of affairs. It is bound to have an impact on the wider netball community. 

My tentative questioning of netball coach friends elsewhere in the world, does see a similar trend. I wonder if it’s the same in other sports? Is it a trend in both male & female coaching and for those at different stages of their Club Coaching journeys? 

So, what do I mean by ‘under appreciated’? 

What players see at regular training sessions is normally the product of voluntary planning - analysis, thorough consideration of a teams’ needs, feedback from players (often ‘out of hours’) the list is endless. In a nutshell, the training session delivered is the tip of the iceberg for a Coach. So much more goes into delivery & the art of coaching! 

10 years ago, when I first started being paid to coach, the National Governing Body’s ‘best practice’ guideline for Level 2 Coaches was £20 an hour. 

Guess what? That hasn’t changed! 

I was asked to take on a Back to Netball session in the New Year - at a venue not too far away from the very first Back to Netball session I delivered nearly 12 years ago. I would ‘take home’ less now than I would back then! Whilst the £20 coaching fee hasn’t gone up, train fares certainly have! 

I have fond memories of Club Coaching and wouldn’t rule out a return in the future - time and a thicker skin dependent! I made the decision to step away before the pandemic hit and am very happy concentrating on other coaching avenues. 

I total understand and appreciate where these Netball Club Coaches are coming from though. It was tough before Covid-19 so far more difficult now. Who do you think has taken on all those extra Covid-19 responsibilities?! 

To coach any club side properly & successfully takes time & dedication, if you don’t have the wider support to make it work, it’s always going to be difficult to prioritise. 

It’s not an easy decision for those leaving club coaching behind, what are we doing to change their minds though? 

#41 Positives always outweigh the negatives

 I try to be a glass half full kind of person. 

It’s been a challenging weekend though, both on and around the courts and my normal sunny disposition has greyed somewhat! 

I’ve spent the last 24hours chuntering to anyone who would listen about the injustices and unfairness of a variety of netball scenarios over the weekend. 

Frankly, most of which have nothing to do with me and don’t effect me! Why do I get involved? Because I care, of course! 

I’ve been writing a blog, in my head, at least, about these negative netball atrocities (!) but have come to the decision that me spouting off actually doesn’t do any good and may actually give air to those fools, who don’t have netball’s best interests at heart, use the system to their own advantage and despite appearances, make no attempt to conduct themselves in the spirit of netball! 

Instead, I choose to celebrate the benefits of netball, all the positives since we’ve been back on court ‘proper’ and all those lovely members of the netball community who are determined to see netball rise again! 

So, here is my top five highlights since netball has restarted! What’s your top netball moments in the last few months?!? Who are you going to share them with to spread some netball love!?! 

1. Three netball festivals. 100s of Netballers coming together, reconnecting & playing the game they love. Extra benefits of this include: fundraising for charities including Macmillan, some amazing cake making & supporting our local facilities who are also coming out of lockdown.

2. Kindness of non Netballers. The best recent example of this is when Walkie Talkies, our Walking Netball lovelies, applied for some community funding. We approached our local Councillor for some support and the interest she showed and the letter she wrote supporting the application, blew me away. It went above and beyond what she had to do and led to a successful bid and, in turn, secured the long term future of the group. 

3. Messages of support! Social Media is a beast that for me, is a necessary evil of sorts! My social media followers only see the positive but those who have grown to know me well have an uncanny knack of contacting me with a note of appreciation or a text of support when needed the most! Thoughtfulness costs nothing but is always appreciated. 

4. Old netball friends. I’ve seen people in the last few weeks, who I grew up watching or playing with, who I haven’t seen for years! Isn’t it funny how you fall into the same ease & comfortable-ness almost immediately with people you know so well! I even went to the pub after our walking netball friendly with some of them! I’ve never been so grateful for ‘normal’ ! 

5. 25 new to netball primary school children! I really do find it a privilege to introduce Newbies to our great sport! It’s also a huge responsibility and one I do not take lightly. Two new after school sessions have been started during September and I get a huge buzz from the positivity, enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge from these kids! It’s infectious! 

For me, it’s not just about the netball either - these children are learning about team work, resilience and overcoming challenges during weekly sessions. I also believe being active at a young age leads to greater benefits and healthy habits throughout life. I love making this contribution to young people’s lives. 

#40 Giving back!

Awesome news! 

I visited and agreed to run an after school club in a Junior School today! 

Not all that special you might think, but then I’ll throw in that it’s the school I used to attend where some of my formative, favourite netball memories are from and then you might appreciate how excited & grateful I am! 

I attended Newbridge Middle School until1993, back in the days when Year 7 was the oldest year group in Primary School, rather than the first year in Seniors. 

Mum volunteered as Coach, as you would expect if you know my Mum! 

Mrs Sherrington was ‘in charge’ though and did an absolute awesome job at inspiring young girls to be active, giving them confidence & helping them learn the meaning of ‘being a team’. 

Newbridge was incredibly supportive, organising entry to tournaments at weekends, having extra practices and buying new equipment. 

I even remember a Children in Need match against the teachers where all the school came out to watch and support. I’m not sure they’d get away with that now!!! 

Our first year of school netball saw us enter into the local schools tournament against teams a year older. I’m not sure if we were entered into the wrong age group or if that was the only one we could enter. We were absolutely trounced throughout but apart from remembering coming last, all my memories are positive. We had such a great time despite the results - Miss Sherrington set us mini targets that we all achieved, we clapped and applauded like we’d won the World Cup when we actually scored one goal & I can just remember being really grateful we were there! 

A year later we were back at the same tournament, against our own age group, with a year’s more worth of training and match play and took home the winners trophy! 

Funny thing is I remember the first year far better! 

To have the opportunity to go back to Newbridge as a ‘Grown up’ and fully fledged, qualified Netball Coach is right up there with everything I have achieved! 

As well as being passionate about netball I am also really passionate about children having opportunities to be active and all the benefits that come with that - confidence, empowerment, health and wellbeing. 

To visit Newbridge today, in the middle of their Sports Week, to see and feel the passion, commitment and enthusiasm for sport that I first felt their so many years ago, was really inspirational! 

If I can inspire some of their pupils from September, not only will I be doing my job, it would have taken me full circle!