This post is sponsored by Telstra NetMum
Growing up I loved netball except for one thing. Centre position. Going to girls schools meant that we played A LOT of netball during PE. And being the smallest person in the team. Always, always the smallest person meant that I had to play centre. I was always a bit jealous of goal defence or goal shooter. Just hanging around at one end of the court bound by the lines. Meanwhile centre is running around the whole court dodging the opposing team’s centre position. At least I got a good workout.
Keira loves netball. She plays at school during lunch one day a week with the older grades teaching them and they give homemade little certificates to the girls for effort and teamwork with stickers and texta drawings all over them. Keira loves it. She was dying to play netball this year as being 6 she could start playing but with kumon, girl guides, art, sewing, swimming and keyboard each week we’ve had to put it off till next year.
Are you a netball mum? Saturday morning games and after school training a part of your life? The things we do. Telstra has their NetMum competition to reward the mums who are the unsung heroes of netball teams right across Australia. Netball is the most actively played sport for women and girls in Australia. Did you know that? Well now you do.
Thank you Natallie for this great pic! Someone looks very happy!
Now don’t waste time, Telstra NetMum entries close 10th June 2013. So run don’t walk to the Facebook page here and the competition page is here. Lots of great prizes up for grabs including VIP tickets to the ANZ Championship Grand Finals for the winning NetMum and her daughter.
And would you check out my lovely reader Lisa who plays women’s netball and has all the moves.
But wait there’s more………..how would you and your daughter love a 1 hour training clinic with Liz Ellis and me. And Keira.
Now I promise that I won’t be dishing out the netball advice, I’ll leave that to Liz. But I have a little competition thanks to the Telstra NetMum team that we can have some fun with. All you need to do is tell me your favourite netball moment (could be funny, embarrassing, proud, you name it) and Keira and I will pick our 4 winners. 4 mums and 4 daughters, Keira and myself makes 10 of us with Liz Ellis at a Sydney location.
{Now you must be an aussie resident to enter, you need to make your own way to the location in Sydney (so that might mean Sydney people only or you need to be willing to come to us), competition runs 3rd-11th June and one entry per person in the giveway. Full terms of my giveaways can be found here}
p.s a big thank you to my lovely readers who sent me photos for this post! I love them! The first picture is from Jillian, the second photos from Jenny, the third is Nathallie’s very happy daughter , thank you Lisa for the pics of you playing and my lovely reader Kylie who sent me that picture of her gorgeous girl above. Thank you!
My lovely 12 year old Abby has been playing netball since she was 6. Like Keira she was busting to play and absolutely loves the game! There are so many stories to tell after 6 years but my favourite thing we do is travel in to the city to have her photo taken against a photo of Carla Borrego each year so she can measure how much taller she has to be to be a Thunderbird- talk about OBSESSED!
oh that is so cute!!!!!!!!! what a way to look back over the years too
thanks for entering
Corrie:)
Your more than welcome
a little dissapointed I dont have a daughter to enter haha would love to meet Liz!
thank you again:)
My daughter has only just started to play this year. We have lots of moments where she forgets which part of the court she can be in with the position she is playing. The most favourite part was when the other team kept the ball at the goal end. Charlotte was the Goal Shooter so was using the goal post as a maypole, spinning around. It was just like her aunt used to do when she played. Charlotte would probably say her favourite part is the doughnut cart near the canteen every weekend.
Charlotte plays NETTA which is really great, as they teach them the rules as they play on the court. They get an explanation of what they did wrong and how to avoid it in future. Plus they have to play all they positions by the end of the season.
I hope Keira gets to play next year. They do get rather busy. Charlotte does Netball, Physie,Scouts and Swimming.
that is so cute:) Keira would probably love the donuts too!
corrie:)
I never played netball growing up but we signed up when we moved house to help meet new people and it was one of the best decisions we made. Trinity is in her second year and just loves it. Their team was recently regraded (up) and Trinity played GS on Saturday. She got 10 goals. Yes 10. I had parents ringing me to tell me how awesome she played which made me so proud. We were running around the courts with our other 2 daughters who have started netball this year too so it’s hard to watch them all at once! We would love to meet Liz and of course Keira and play some netball.
wow 10 goals!!! I’d be lucky to get 1 goal! netball star right there:)
My favourite netball moment happened a few weeks ago, but needs some explaining. Ardyn plays 9 year old Nettas for our local club. Each week there is a “Player of the Week” award given by the coaches to the player who does as their coaches tells them, shows good sportsmanship and puts in a consistent effort. We have decided as a parent group that it won’t be shared around this year, but earned each week by the player who displays these characteristics. It is judged on effort and sportsmanship, not ability, so everyone has the chance to earn it.
So a few weeks ago, Ardyn won the award!! (Yay!!) It was a difficult decision for the coaches too, as this particular week they ALL played really well and displayed the aforementioned traits. But Ardyn was the most consistent, playing really well in WA and WD that week.
After she was given the award, she came running, no, BOLTING over to me and burst into tears. She was so proud of herself and the effort that she had put in, and to have that recognised by her coaches meant the world to her. And then, her team mates came up to her and gave her a massive team hug to congratulate her. Because it meant so much to her, it meant so much to them.
I love that – the team spirit shown by this group of 8 year old girls. No jealousy, no carry on, no bitchiness. They all played REALLY well, but they were all so proud of the person who was ultimately given the award.
I love our team. And what a great bonding experience Nettas is for young girls. I highly reccommend it to anyone for their daughter.
It will be a small shame next year when they are graded, as they have such differing abilities that I can’t see them all playing on the same team. I just hope that if there are a few together that they take that team spirit with them, and it lives on in their next team.
oh that is so special, thanks for sharing! love seeing them proud and working hard:)
Corrie:)
Isabelle plays netball 3 2 nights a week, has training on Mondays and Tuesdays and then plays a game on Saturday so the only rest night is Wednesday and Friday now. She absolutely loves it and is improving every time she plays. Her teams seem to be going really well and in 2 weeks time she should be in 2 grand finals! Dont include me in the comp though Corrie as I wouldnt be able to make it to Sydney but I am sure some really deserving mum will win. How exciting, and yes Keira would be so busy playing netball as well but she must love all the wonderful things she does after school.
wow now that is dedication! I’m guessing you have your knitting with you Sue:)
I just want to know what happened to the old pleated netball skirt?!
yes! and scungies!
My 8-year-old son Sterling (yes, you read it right) loves playing netball for his Year 2 team and he looks forward to the thrilling game every Saturday morning. He isn’t at all phased by being one of only two boys in his team (and them being the only two boys in the division). He is keen to improve his skills and takes his weekly training session extremely seriously, except when the girls try to make him play catch and kiss! As a keen netballer myself, I am excited that he enjoys my sport, especially as his 9-year-old sister plays soccer instead.
so glad we have a boy amongst the ranks of netball players! Go Sterling! thanks for entering
Corrie:)
The memories of Saturdays by the sideline, rain, hail or shine. And being score keeper on wet days with a wet score sheet and a pencil that wouldn’t write! But unlike you, as a future 6′ girl, daughter was a bored GD most of the time.
Oh and please dont include me in the draw either, Perth is a bit far!
see it all has to do with height!!!!!
Corrie:)
I have read your blog for a long time now but was totally thrilled to see our home courts on your blog. My girls have played netball for the last 7 years and I coached a beautiful team for four years. We just enjoyed watching the Swifts play the Thunderbirds on the weekend.
Last year we had the pleasure of watching my middle girls team play as a pre-match at Allphones Arena. The girls had a great victory and the Swifts went on the beat the Vixens. All in all, a fabulous day. We also got to watch Liz Ellis in her role as commentator and are very sorry that she is no longer doing this.
Some mornings we have frost and fog so thick that you can barely see the other end of the courts, but the girls strip down to their netball uniforms and get on with the job. In this case, being a Centre certainly keeps you warm!
wow frost and fog, that is testing the love there!!!!
thanks for entering
Corrie:)
We were from a small country town but made up for our lack of size with spirit. We travelled down the Blue Mountains to a netball carnival and took on the Sydney girls. We won. But my favorite memory is not this, it is that of my grandfather, in tears as I shot goals as GS. Every successful shot equalled a tear. He was amazing and travelled all the way from Manly to watch me. Netball brings joy. I feel the same way about my daughter.
oh that is so sweet!
thank you
Corrie:)
Hi Corrie, My 6 year old Livvie started playing NETTA this year and loves it! I think it’s cute that the girls are so quick to make friends with the other team and spend some of the game playing hopscotch on the lines and clapping games with their opponents (!). I wrote about our Saturday Mornings recently; http://withorwithoutnap.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/saturday-mornings.html
We live in Sydney and would love to join you and Keira and Liz Ellis!
thank you for entering! yes I love how they make friendships and enjoy the sport too
Corrie:)
I play netball badly (I preferred basketball) unlike my older sister. She would sometimes ask me to fill in. One of the girls on her team was deaf and played (very well) in the state deaf team. She played in my sister’s team to give her more game time and because she loved it.
I was bouncing around with no idea, calling for a pass when I was tapped on the shoulder by this girl who was laughing and energetically pointing in the other direction. After much tapping, laughing and pointing I realised what she meant – WD can’t be in the scoring third apparently – oops! And I thought I was doing so well.
too funny!!!! I can’t play basketball to save my life!
Corrie:)
I have two second year netballers in my family and myself. Our girls started playing last year for QHNC and Abby (7) won the Modified Player of the Year (this would have to be my proudest and first netball Mum moment) and from the minute she took the court she has never once looked back. Even when it started to rain a little and Abby fell down (because she always goes hard to get the ball before it goes over the line) she looked at me with tears about to well in her eyes and started shaking her head as if to say to me that she was fine and didn’t have to come off. My second proudest moment as a netball Mum came a couple of weeks ago when Miss Tyler (9) made the school netball team. My third proudest moment would have to be last year when my indoor netball team finally won a grand final instead of being a runner up. I am now coach for Miss Tyler’s team and Manager for Miss Abby’s team. We went to see The Swifts play a few weeks ago and Liz Ellis was actually there, my children may be a little too young to know her but my husband and I def knew. Thanks for letting me rant and share my proud netball moments.
We have been hitting the netball courts every week for the last 18 years, having five girls, netball has been the ideal sport for all the girls. Our youngest, Emily, now 14 has grown up on the courts and we have had many happy, funny moments and then there are some tinged with a touch of sadness. Emily boldly stated when she was 9 that she was going to play in the U15 State Team one day, she had dreams of being selected and flying of somewhere for a week of netball. Her determination and insistence that this was just going to happen because after all we had always told her if you want something you can make it happen ensured, in her mind, that her dream would be a reality. Last year she was delighted to be selected in the North West Regional Academy to begin training for phase one selections. I was proud of her for her selection and watched as the training weeks unfolded. Each week there was an improvement in her game skills, speed, fitness and her commitment was unwavering maybe it’s her fiery red head grit and determination but not once did she stop, she rose to every challenge and pushed herself further. The weekend finally arrived for selections and we headed to Launceston for a day of match play. For Emily this was a step towards her five year dream. For me, it was nail biting nerves and worry, after all she was one one of the youngest there, of course I think she is a great player with loads of potential but I am also her mum and the first to admit that when it comes to my girls, I may just be a little bit biased. At the end of the day 96 girls sat down, waiting and hoping that there name would be one of the 32 called to go to phase 2 – selection camp. The look on her face when her name was called, was one that will stay with me for a very long time – relief, pride, excitement all rolled into one moment. I could barely look at the other girls happy and sad faces, so focused on Emily’s moment. Camp was scheduled for the following weekend and I am pretty sure Emily packed, and repacked several times. Five hours into training camp Emily chased a ball of court and sprained her ankle, her first ever netball injury and what a time to happen! Then and there her opportunity for the year left. Injured, on crutches I just couldn’t quite believe the unfairness of it, after all her work. Emily didn’t falter, she insisted on going to netball on Monday night to support her team and went to training on Wednesday night to support her development team, in her words – ‘It just makes me even more determined to be the best I can for next years selections’.
I have 6 kids. 5 boys and 1 girl.. My daughter is 12 and has been playing netball for years she plays center the whole game. I also coach another team so I like to help with kids.. My boys play footy and cricket.
Jessica was selected to take part in the northern metro academy.. Always plays at school as well as her club netball..
I’d like to nominated my sister and her twin 8 year olds girls. They moved areas and changed schools this year, and one of the ways they’ve become involved in their local community is through netball. My sister is a novice coach and the girls are playing Nettas. They are such a positive, fun group who love playing despite the losses. Their first game they lost by 15, but last week they played the same team again, and only lost by 2. They were so pleased with their improvement.
My two oldest girls, aged 8 and 9 both played Netta’s, but my 9yo Dakota in particular is very keen on her netball, and this year, graduated to under 11’s. The team had been winning every Netta game, comprehensively, so it was very right that when they rankings came around, they went up the ranks, but it was a BIG shock to them to start playing against under 11’s that had been playing for a while! There were some tears, so I can definitely say that my favourite netball moment was Dakota scoring her first goal in the under 11’s, with that big, high ring! Dakota tells me that she wants to play for the Melbourne Vixens, and then for the Diamonds! I love her belief that she can do it, and why not?
OH I love her ambitions!!!!!!!! go Dakota!
This is my daughters second year of netball. I love that she is getting into it and finding her grove. She loves it!! What more can u ask for!!
My daughter Lola and I would love to meet you and Keira for netball with Liz Ellis. Lola has just started playing netball this year and along with the rest of her team are all newbies at the game. I am coach and it is a lot of fun, a lot of giggling and I am so proud of their enthusiasm. My favourite moment would be when Lola was playing goal keeper, she brilliantly caught the rebound from the attempted goal and then proceeded to line the ball up with the goal preparing to take a shot herself!! the whole sideline of parents yelled ‘NO’ and Lola realised she was up the wrong end and in the wrong position!! it was such a cutie thing to do as a newbie.
2 of my 3 daughters and I play netball. The funniest moment we had this year was just before my 8 year old was due to take the court for her game. At our netball courts there is a very big sign saying “no dogs”. While you might think it’s a lovely, friendly, family type thing to do to bring your puppy down to the courts to watch the game, it doesn’t always work out so well.
On this particular day, a sweet young girl was walking her puppy around the court while she cheered on her team. They walked right past the “no dogs allowed” sign, and stood just near the goal post. The sweet young thing stopped to watch a goal. The dog also stopped – it had business that it needed to do, right there. Right next to the court was left a special message from the dog. {I think the dog may have even had a slightly upset tummy… it wasn’t pretty}. The young girl didn’t immediately notice, but all the players on the court and all the people on the sideline did. The netball game came to a halt. Dog, 1: Netta 0. There’s nothing that young children find more distracting than something gross happening nearby!
We are at the local netball courts 3 days a week for training and playing and I love every minute of it. My oldest started on hard courts this year and youngest started netta. They love it. Finally found an activity that they don’t try and get out of….. They can’t get enough! They even want to go and practise on Sundays. Makes life easier (for me!) when they actually want to go.