Netball

Since I have been here, I kept hearing about this game "Netball".  People tried to explain it to me but it made no sense.  I played basketball against girls that were netball players so I had a clue about how the game was played because of they way they played basketball, a lot of passing.  

I decided I had to see this mysterious game before I left Australia, and since this was my last weekend in the Barossa, I NEEDED to see it! Luckily, Sophie, my housemate's sister, plays netball for Blyth Snowtown and I got to go watch her play.  

Before I go into the minimal detail of netball that I understand, I would like to explain how these netball teams work.  A lot of towns around the areas have teams.  They not only have netball teams (for girls) but football teams for the blokes out there.  You don't have to play for your home town either.  Sophie lives in Kapunda, but plays for a town that is closer to Clare (an hour north of Kapunda).  And the teams, being competitive and all, are also a big social thing.  The netball girls date the footy guy, some are married and have babies and everything.  They all do not go out on Friday nights because they all play Saturday and support each other whilst not playing.  Then Saturday is the big day to go out and either celebrate a win, or drink away sorrows from a loss.  It is a really fun and social thing to have in these small towns.  

Back to netball.  There are 7 girls on the court; Goal Keeper, Goal Defense, Goal Shooter, Goal Attack, Wing Defense, Wing Attack and Center.  Each position has different rules as the where they can go on the court.  Some can go all around the court but not into the goal circle.  Other positions have to stay within a certain third, or two thirds of the court.  Truly, I need a diagram to show you how it all works. And this is also why I needed to see the game to really understand.  Anyway, you are not allowed to move when you have the ball, you can only bounce pass or chest pass to another player.  You can only shoot at the basket (with no backboard…weird) when you are in the goal circle.  It is also considered a "non contact" sport, but there is HEAPS of contact.  

Sophie's team ended up winning 35-30! Go Sophie!! O yea, and they wear dresses/skirts and don't have numbers but their positions on their jersey dresses.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.howtoplaynetball.com/resources/netball%2520court.png&imgrefurl=http://www.howtoplaynetball.com/netball-positions.php&h=563&w=1065&sz=58&tbnid=LhkLKwSli6WrMM:&tbnh=64&tbnw=122&zoom=1&usg=__L2kiL6b0Nw5l2FbMlLeLGwALccg=&docid=q7_WNTD04DusRM&sa=X&ei=YMCAUY_hEcLTrQeQuYGYBA&ved=0CDMQ9QEwAA&dur=152

That link is a court where all the players are...