Netball

 

 

Living in St. Johns College, I have had many opportunities to join a sports team. Because I am apparently a relatively tall girl in Australia, many people were trying to convince me to join the Netball team; not the intercollege team, but the fresher team. Before coming to Australia I had never even heard of netball. When the other girls tried to explain the game, they said it was like basketball, but different. There was no explanation of how it was different, just that it was different. I considered joining, but then I found out that I was not going to be able to make the one and only competition so it did not make sense to join. However, since I did not become a member of the squad, I still had no idea what netball was. A few weeks back, the John’s netball team played the other colleges. I went out to support my peers (despite the pouring rain) and I finally got the chance to observe and understand the sport.

I saw the sport as a mixture between basketball and lacrosse. Obviously they use a court and ball similar to basketball. A significant difference is that there is no backboard for the hoop. What reminded me of lacrosse was the incorporation of boundaries and limitations as to where to go on the court.

After watching the game, I realized that I would have been frustrated playing. It seemed strange and confining to me that you couldn’t run or dribble the ball, but rather that you had to remain stationary and just pass it.  I was confused as to whether or not you could jump to block the ball or not,  which also made me feel as if I would have been strait-jacketed. Those girls are great athletes and did a phenomenal job, and being a member of such a team would have been a great experience. However, netball is not the sport for me.