The world’s worst netballer
Like most Aussie girls, my netball career started in Grade 3 at school. It was compulsory. Every Friday afternoon, we would don our netball skirts and silly bibs, and head out to take part in the regional competition, a fully-fledged, graded comp incorporating all the Catholic schools in the area. My team was in Grade F – the lowest of the low.
Somehow it was decided that, being a little taller than most (at a fully grown 164cm – huh???), I would make a good Goal Keeper.
I didn’t.
I was a dreadful Goal Keeper. Each Friday my long suffering Mum (and Dad on his flexi days) would come to watch from the sidelines. “You’re not doing ballet now… Get in there… Go for the BALL!!!!”
The first season we lost almost every game 30+ to nil. In one game, our Goal Shooter managed to shoot two goals – we only lost 7-2. It was awesome – we celebrated! She was promoted to the next grade.
In Grade 4 it was just as bad.
In Grade 5, in a new school, I had my first taste of victory. For a start, they moved me to Goal Defence and occasionally, Wing Defence. We only had one team and one grade. We made the finals. Alas, they “forgot” to tell me the time/date of the game. I missed the finals, because… I didn’t know it was on. I think they thought they’d do better without me.
In Grade 6, back at my old school, a friend and I managed to get special dispensation from the netball team. Somehow, we convinced the powers-that-be that the school would be far better off without us “representing” them. Meanwhile, we had a lot of fun hanging about, doing “intellectual things” on Friday afternoons – far more fun than we would have had on a netball court!
Fortunately, at high school, I was no longer was obliged to play competitive netball. PE classes – sure, but out there, in the real world, nope. It was freedom!
And then one day, in Year 9, something amazing happened. I’m not quite sure how it happened, but in a PE class, I was given the opportunity to play Centre. I am not small, not fast, not at all athletic, so this was a MASSIVE surprise!
It was the best game of netball I’ve ever played.
I may not have been the best Centre ever, but I was OK. I got in there, I received the ball (i.e. I actually CAUGHT it!), I identified the tactics of play and controlled them, I even threw it off to the right team! In a netball career that to date had been seriously crushing to any sense of self-esteem, it was a triumph. That one day gave me hope… that I could play a sport… that all was not lost.
I later went on to achieve a 1st Dan black belt in Taekwondo, and to play in the World Masters Games in Touch. I will never be a sporting champion, but I can hold my head high and relish the opportunities I’ve had to participate in competitive sport – to sweat out the training, to experience the camaraderie of a team, to enjoy the “rush” (and the odd headache) of competition.
I think it’s a truth that we sometimes forget – that we all need a little break every now and then – a chance to shine. We don’t need to be champions all the time, but sometimes we need a break – just to see the spark.
To my Year 9 PE Teacher, thank you for making me Centre that day. It made all the difference.
This post was inspired by our Kid Stuff Story Starter conversation cards. The cards chosen were “My first memory…” and “Sport”. We’d love to hear your sporting stories too. Were you the sporting hero, or like me, the complete klutz? Don’t forget, we offer a pack of your choice of Story Starter conversation cards to the winning story each month (providing we get sufficient entries, that is!) So please, send in your story on Facebook, by email to contact[at]leafjournals.com or by leaving your comment here.
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Jennie says:
April 26, 2011 at 3:18 pm
Sport and me
We can never be described as friends, sport and me. From the harsh beginnings of primary school rounders, to my inability to run at any sort of thing that could be described as speed. It made sense really, because I can’t see too well, even less well when moving. So one EXCELLENT game of T-ball (yup, good because I could hit a stationary target), and the early games of newcom (standing mostly in the same place, without opponents in the same space, and catching a BIG ball) represent my best early sports memories. We were MADE to participate in sports all through primary school, so my history consists mostly of disappointments like being chosen last, and participating in the ‘special’ sporting group, who had a chance of actually winning something (but in those days didn’t actually get a prize for it).
While this is a stark contrast to today’s trophy for every participant, which I think has gone badly the wrong way, I do feel that my situation was badly managed. Firstly, my ONE moment to shine in primary school was when I made the cross-ball team because of my ability. This was a netball exercise which became a sport, where you stand still and pass the ball quickly to the next person in a zig-zag, with the last person running to the other end when they recieve the ball, thus becoming the first person and starting the process again. Standing still, with a large ball from a stationary person only a short distance from me, then passing it to another stationary place was actually perfect! I excelled and made the team when I was only in grade 5. I wasn’t even the lowest capability member of the team, but I was asked to bow-out in to the reserve position to give those grade 6s a chance to compete before they left for high school. Grade 6s who were NOT accustomed to being chosen last for ANY team. Grade 6s who made several teams and participated with a chance in several categories. I was CRUSHED!!! Furthermore, summer sports was abolished the following year when the school’s musical turned out to be such a huge success everyone figured they didn’t have the time. So my competing the following year was never to happen.
This sort of insult got worse in high school. Again sports was compulsory, and I was subjected to rejection and humiliation on a regular basis. I BEGGED them to let me sit out, and surprised one PE teacher who thought she could bore me silly with collation and stapling, when I elected to do it 3 weeks running. Sport, frequently involving running or balls, was just a source of hopeless frustration for me, so I just wanted it to go away. There were things I was good at, but they didn’t do those at school. So as I achieved certificates and ribbons in Equestrian, the PE class continued to be regular hiddious event. Eventually I fell off my horse, he fell on me, and I was officially excused from PE for an extended period, thank goodness! I felt my self-esteem improve as I sat on the sidelines and seriously wondered why I was subjected such ridiculous humiliation for such a long time. I have avoided sport since it ceased to become compulsory, and I couldn’t keep my horse anymore many years later. Sport became a dirty word for me and I even married a fellow who joined his school’s lighting crew to avoid compulsory sports. I wondered about the team comradery and even had curiousity about what it was like to ‘win’, but at the end of the day it was barely a passing thought to me.
Then one day I found my place in sport. There it was, in a sport I had watched with great interest for many years, but never dreamed of being a part of. I always LOVED ice-hockey. It was so quick and so fluent that I figured I would never have a chance at it. My mum got an inheritance when her mother died and wanted to spend some money on me, and I had co-incidently been enquiring about in-line hockey, to get more fit and have some fun. She bought me all the padding and a helmet and I joined a masters team for practice. They knew nothing about my history and just figured I was a green rookie, teaching me and encouraging me. Eventually when I didn’t improve that quickly, they suggested a team for me in the adult women’s league. This was a non-serious group, who just had a heap of fun and got ‘out there’, mostly doing the sport their children were doing. It was sooooo much fun! I wasn’t what you would call ‘good at it’, but I had a ball. I did have one asset, being an incredibly powerful distance shot. Would have been sooooo much better with aim, but no one there cared. I felt the spirit of a team and even felt that I had sporting capabilities. The fact that I was large was actually an asset, as other teams tried to knock me over unsuccessfully, so I came to peace with sports for the first time in a long time. Even my equestrian participation hadn’t felt this good. I FINALLY had a sport I could enjoy. My first ever team sport!
Upon reflection of my sporting past I think of many things. One is to encourage people’s strengths, no matter how transitory or small. Another is that organised sport in school should NOT be compulsory for those who it humiliates. Lastly though, and most importanyly, like many things in life, once you get to be an adult the world is much wider and more full of others who fit your mould better, so it is sooooo much easier to find your place in anything, even sports.
Cath says:
April 26, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Jennie, I feel your pain. I too had to submit to the humiliation of being picked last for teams, and I didn’t even have poor eyesight to blame – I was just completely unco! It really does leave its mark. It’s great to see that you too found your sport. I would have loved to have seen you on the ice-hockey rink! I think schools have changed things now and have realised the psychological harm done to less-sporty types by compulsory competitive sport. I certainly hope so. That said, I think it is important for all kids to experience a wide range of physical activity, so that hopefully, like you and I, they can find their own sport niche.
Thanks for your honest, often heart-wrenching story.
Maxabella says:
November 4, 2011 at 10:43 pm
Wow, Jennie’s comment was longer than your post!
This was a good one, it pretty much summed up my like/hate relationship with team sports. And as a junior basketballer I absolutely never got netball at all! x
MultipleMum says:
November 5, 2011 at 8:20 pm
I am so glad you had that fabulous moment in the ‘centre’. A turning point in your sporting career. Awesome! You may hate me for this comment, but I never played netball at primary school. In fact I dodged the dreaded pleated skirt until about Year 10 when some of my volleyball team asked me to fill a spot on their team. They couldn’t believe I had never played before! I went on to play a few ‘twilight’ comps but have never had much to do with it really. I am pretty proud of that record as an Aussie girl! Thanks for Rewinding x
Bronwyn says:
November 6, 2011 at 7:03 am
What a awesome post. Sport can be such a valuable element of a education … but not everyone fits the same mould.
Visiting via Maxabella’s Love Grateful Bloghop
Cath says:
November 6, 2011 at 10:30 pm
I think this reminds me that we need to expose our kids to as much as possible in life so they can find their “niche”, whether that’s in sport, arts, or anything else, rather than expecting them to fit the mold… Thanks for Rewinding!
Janelle says:
November 11, 2011 at 9:50 pm
Visiting via the rewind, when I saw the title of your post I just had to check it out. I used to play netball A LOT as a youngen, from about Grade 5 through to 10. I adored it! I didn’t always get along with the girls on my teams, but I was good at it, and even got to travel interstate to play rep as well. Ahhh….I miss those good old days, when I was actually playing a sport and fit.
Cath says:
November 11, 2011 at 10:08 pm
Oh dear, I’ve been visited by a REAL netballer! Thanks for dropping by. Hope one day you’ll don those sports shoes for another crack at it