Ever heard of Netball?? Neither had we!
That is, until we got an email from the girls' school a couple weeks back providing details on this year's school netball league. We immediately googled netball and came away with an understanding that netball is somewhat like American basketball, and yet nothing like American basketball!
In very basic, broad strokes, here's the jist of netball:
Objective: Score the most points, 1 point per successful shot into the goal ring
Goal ring is a net hoop (like in basketball), but without any backboard
Players are assigned positions (i.e. Center, Defender, Attack) that define their role within the team and restrict their movement on court
Max one step with the ball before you have to pass it (aka, no running with the ball or dribbling it)
Once you've caught the ball, you have three seconds to pass it (aerial pass or bounce pass) or shoot for goal
Goals can only be scored by the assigned shooting players (if that's not your assigned position you can't shoot)
NZ's professional female netball team is the Silver Ferns. They are quite accomplished on the global netball scene. They even beat three-time defending champions Australia (52-51) in a the Netball World Cup finals back in February 2020! More on that here.
To Play or Not to Play
We watched a bunch of netball video clips, and Paige was intrigued. In spite of having never played netball - and (like us) having never even heard of the sport until that day (!) - Paige seemed pretty keen to play. We met with one of the coordinating school teachers one morning that week to get further clarity on a few things. Paige played it coy and wouldn't commit on the spot. We told the teacher we'd discuss at home and give her a final answer by week's end.
Turns out Paige's only real hesitation was that she didn't know anyone else signed up to play in her grade. We gave Paige a few more days (during which time she was no doubt trying to recruit friends/classmates). Meanwhile we were strongly encouraging her to play and participate in the new experience. Paige has never played on an organized sport team. We felt strongly that she would enjoy playing on the netball team for several reasons:
Paige is an ultra competitive, motivated person; she'll thrive off the competitive & challenging nature of playing an organized sport
She's super sporty, and has very strong hand/eye/ball coordination; this will help hone those skills
It will be great for her to play on a team & experience that kind of camaraderie
It will enable her to get to know more kids in her grade at school
It could be her ticket to a full ride college scholarship (Kidding!! That became a big joke between me & Doug)
In the end, we would have made Paige play, but we were hoping that she would come to that conclusion on her own. Sure enough, we were at the school's first assembly at the end of that week. The Deputy Principal, Matt, asked those students who'd be playing rugby for the school to stand up (clap, clap, clap). Then he asked those who'd be playing netball for the school to stand up (clap, clap, clap). Doug & I were on the edge of our seats . . . would Paige stand or not stand? Paige stood up! Woo hoo!! She and a fellow classmate/friend next to her stood up when prompted. So happy to see Paige make that commitment on her own, without us having to step in!
Minor Setback
Fast forward to this week, the official start to this year's social & shortened (due to covid19) school netball season. Mid-week Paige came home pretty rattled. Apparently there had been some kind of impromptu netball practice over recess. She didn't go for several reasons . . . she didn't know exactly where to go, she couldn't find the teacher she knew (with whom we'd spoken) to ask what was going on, her classmate/friend wasn't going to play netball after all so she didn't know anyone else. In short, she was very overwhelmed, nervous and discouraged.
The whole thing messed with her so much that she insisted she was no longer going to play netball anymore. And I mean *insisted*. According to her, there was NO way in heck she was going to play; it was all too much. We tried to reason with her, but the emotions were too high and she just couldn't take in what we were saying. We were getting no where.
She then asked me to go into her bedroom and talk just the two of us. It was during that 1:1 time that I was finally able to get her to take some deep breaths (poor thing was literally hyperventilating she was so upset) and she felt comfortable sharing extra little details (that had surely sparked insecurities for her) . . . like how all the other girls were a foot or two taller than her, and all the girls seemed to know each other already. I reiterated to her the importance of not quitting before you even start something; especially when it's something you've never even tried in the first place. I repeatedly showed compassion, letting her know that I get how it would be tough to start this on her own and feel like everyone else knows everybody and the game better than her. I tried to lift her spirits, letting her know that I believe she'll get through this and really come to enjoy playing the sport and having the new experience. I reiterated that she can't stop something she hasn't even started. I'm sure I said a bunch of things wrongly, but in the end what I was saying finally got through to her and she agreed to play. She asked me to contact the school teacher lead/coach to get more details on when & where weekday practice would be, so she would be able to participate more comfortably next time (knowledge is power!). She said she'd participate in the team drills before the first game, and we agreed she could sit out this first game if she wasn't feeling ready yet.
We also agreed that a fun way to celebrate the completion of her netball season would be to possibly get her ears pierced. NOT a bribe! Something we talked about after she (re)committed to playing. But it's something she's been massively keen on doing - even since before we left NYC. Over the years I've pretty consistently said "when you're 10 years old" because that's what my Mom arbitrarily said back in the day and the age me & my sister got ours pierced :) But throughout our year of travel I shifted my position early on to be "you can get them pierced before we go home to the States (even though she'd be shy of 10 yrs old) as a celebration of a our year of travel". So scooching the date for ear piercing forward a smidge more is no big deal in my book. I'd be happy to celebrate her rising to the new challenge of netball and that new experience. Doug recently has added that Paige needs to curb her use of the words "like" and "seriously" before she can get her ears pierced. She's strongly motivated and I believe in a matter of ~two months she'll be one happy netball-playing girl with pierced ears who doesn't say like or seriously as often as before :)
QPS Kiwikiwi
Today was the team's first netball match. We picked Paige up from a sleepover at her friend Verity's home in the morning. She already had her netball "dress" on and was excited. Verity played netball last year and told Paige how much she enjoyed it, so that encouragement from a friend was great. We said goodbye & thank you to Verity and her parents and headed over to the Queenstown Events Center.
The girls met at 10:30am to warm up and do some drills before their 11:00am game. It was our first time meeting coach Kate and some of the other QPS Kiwikiwi team players. Paige jumped right into action during the warm-ups, running laps, throwing & catching balls and running a few netball plays on the outdoor netball courts. From the moment she started participating my heart swelled with pride. She was nervous, but she was setting that aside and giving it her all. What more can a parent ask for?
Time to Play
11:00am rolled around and it was time to hit the indoor netball courts for the big game :) QPS Kiwikiwi vs. RPS (Remarkables Primary School) Blitz. We had about 12 girls on our team show up, so Coach Kate rotated girls in to play on the 6-player team. We never had a chance to check in with Paige; before we knew it she had jumped onto the court to play. Yay! Paige played a few times, sometimes as Center, others as Defense. For someone who had never played netball until that very moment, she did amazing!! She gave it her all . . . defending, running, passing and catching.
QPS lost the game to RPS miserably, 2-17. The RPS Blitz were an impressive little team! Nonetheless, Doug, Sadie and I are so incredibly proud of Paige and how she showed up today. She epitomized being brave . . . she felt scared/nervous about playing this new sport with new people, but she still found the courage within herself to do it. And she ended up really enjoying it & looking forward to playing again. Go Kiwikiwi Sweet P!
Future Prospects
Paige loved playing netball, and every time anyone's asked her about it since she's been upbeat, enthusiastic and positive about playing the sport. She's looking forward to the weekly practice at school (armed with the knowledge of where & when it is) and has even invited our neighbors to come watch her & the team play at future Saturday games :) That's huge progress.
It's humbling and so exciting to get a front row seat to the girls learning and growing through new experiences like these. Excited for next Saturday's game already! Maybe that netball scholarship isn't so far fetched after all, haha :)
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