Netball



** STEEL NETBALL TEAM (year 5-6 social team) ** Every year the whole school is given the choice to play netball this year, of those interested a competitive and a social team were formed. These were put together by Sally. I was delighted to find out that one of the player’s parents wanted help to coach the team. Having a strong background in netball after the first few weeks the parent became less involved with the team, this was fine as I was confident to take over. Each player in the team varied in skill level, this was great to see as more knowledgeable players were able to set examples for the less experienced. Having parents supporting the team was great and meant there was someone there to help on the side-line on game days. The nature of the competition means that one representative from each school referees the games (which was me). It was great to brush up my refereeing skills and also get back to the basics of netball. Choosing what to pull the game up on was at first a learning curve as at times it was best to let the game flow. After all, letting them enjoy working together to develop game strategies, learn and develop their netball skills and to have fun is what it is all about. As my last experience within a clubs women’s A netball team, I did not have the full support of the coach at all times. This meant I was often on the side line, with little information on what I could do as a player to improve my performance to enable me to prove myself on game days. With this in mind, I ensured that as a coach, every player had the support and equal opportunities to improve and get on the court. As practices were every Tuesday lunchtime, another student within the school showed interest and began turning up to watch our practices, letting her join in was a great benefit to our team and I’m sure to her as she got a taster of what being in a netball team is like (because really what’s another player if she is interested she should be able to play). She didn’t play on game days, but made it a weekly thing to join in with our team. It was great to see how encouraging the steel players were to her once she got the hang of our team drills/games.

** GOALS FOR THE SEASON ** Focusing on other goals not just winning, throughout the season the team discovered that to be successful in netball you don’t always have to win. WHAT COMPETITION? was often a thought came to mind, as our team goals were focuses particularly on aspects that they could control, such as their own performance (strong passes, doing a the work to get free, and intercepting) this allowed players to have continued success even at times when the score didn't reflect their performance. The following are the positive messages that I would remind the team.

** “Three feet then up” **while defending the ball
 * Making sure you have your distance of 3 feet (1 meter) then putting your arms up to defend the ball/space/or their view.




 * It would have been great to critique the photos that I took in another session so the players can in a sense see what I’m seeing then improve their performance based on their evaluation of the photos.



** “Do the work to show your free” **– instead of calling passers name out
 * At the beginning of the seasons the players continually called out the persons name who had the ball, at times even when they weren’t free. This was the opportune time to blow the whistle, freeze the gameplay and consider how the passer feels to have everyone call their name out. ‘panicked’ ‘not sure who to pass to’ were a few of the responses. I then questioned ‘Who should the passer pass to then? If everyone is calling her/his name? Their response ‘the person who is free’ EXACTLY! So make it easy for the passer, because it will be you next! Do the work, show your free, that will show the passer you deserve the ball. A few of the techniques that we worked to get free were, driving into the space, pulling away your player to make space, and clearing out – to make space for your team members to get free. Freezing the gameplay, I found was the best way to slow things down and generate new ideas. Also stopping after the ball has been passed, and questioning ‘why did you pass it there?’ to hear the thinking behind their actions. This is also known by Gillespie and Culpan (2000) as critical thinking and action which enhances pedagogy to make it meaningful, relevant and stimulating which allows teachers to explicitly foster the 'education aspect' of the physical in physical education (p.94).



** "T ** ** "Time those intercepts” **
 *  Successfully intercepting the ball was rewarded as during every game I kept a record of who made the effort to skilfully gain possession of the ball from the other team. This allowed everybody to be rewarded for their efforts on an equal playing field as everybody has the chance to intercept.



<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%;">** “Ball in hand, rotate it up, give it support with other hand, then flick **"

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%;">These images show how teaching them to shoot correctly was taken on board by these players while playing a game of 'knock out' a shooting game which enables players to experience pressure/competition when practicing their shooting skills.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: justify;">** “hold your head up high” ** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: justify;">.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%;">This applied to one player in particular who had less experience this was evidence through her low levels of confidence at practices and on game days. As I was aware of this I was mindful to encourage and be vigilant to her needs. Throughout the season as her skills increased, as did her confidence. I was mindful to put her in positions which allowed her performance to be strengthened. During one of our final games, while playing GS she got the ball in the hoop, this was recognized by the whole team which was lovely to see, and even earned her player of the day. I preferred to give player of the day to the player who had been working towards the teams goal for the day, instead of randomly picking the best player in the team. This way everybody had the opportunity to strive towards their own success, not just the success of the team.

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%;">** “No more aeroplanes ** ” -
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%;">Having played defence (GD, GK) ever since I was young I was particular about informing them how to defend so that they are not directly invading the other players space. As in more advanced netball the ref will call you up, which slows down gameplay. As there was two players within the team who were a lot more advanced players, I passed on defending tips which my coach once told me. Within this snapshot the player in the middle is using her inside arm to block the player (which is not allowed) I tried to reinforce that while defending your elbows should be by your side, to stop you being tempted. The player on the right is doing this well, even when I’m playing I tend to have my hands open as I move/defend around the opposition.

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%;">__**SUCCESS PLAYING HAKA RIKI**__

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%;">__Images of how the well the team used their defending, attacking, and a variety of passing skills to play the game fluently and tactically.__

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; height: 1px; left: -40px; line-height: 115%; margin-left: -42.55pt; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; text-align: justify; top: -25px; width: 1px;">Successfully intercepting the ball was rewarded as during every game I kept a record of who made the effort to skilfully gain possession of the ball from the other team. This allowed everybody to be rewarded for their efforts on an equal playing field as everybody has the chance to intercept.