Hoop There It Is

In the theme of sports this week, I was invited to my first netball game this Wednesday. It was my full intention to write a really witty blog complimented by pictures I took at the netball game. But due to a lack of players, I ended up on the court playing and couldn't take any pictures. Mind you, I have never played netball before, seen a netball game, or learned the rules of netball. So instead of cool netball pictures, I give you what I learned from my time on the court.

 Shooting is no joke. The ring of the hoop is smaller than a basketball hoop and there's no backboard. People shoot over there head with two hands. Warming up, I was luck if I hit anything. I finally gave up and started shooting like a basketball.

There is no need to be able to shoot from far away. The key strategy is to get the ball as close to the basket as possible, because then you basically have three seconds to take a free shot because...

There is no such thing as defense. You can't put your arms up if you're within three feet of the person with the ball, or it's an obstruction penalty. As a basketball player who loves to block shots, my first reaction is to put my arms up. In fact, that's what I did during the first play. The ref quickly let me know that wasn't kosher. I spent the rest of the game hands behind my back trying not to get obstruction calls. But my reflexes still managed to put my arms up and I got 4 or 5 more.

The ball has to be touched in each third of the court. No hail mary passes, which was fine with me, because I can't throw it that far, and thus I could pretend to be an observer and figure out what this game is all about when the ball was in the far third.

No bouncing, dribbling, or moving the ball other than passing. If you're skilled, the ball can move quick and it is a very strategic game.

Everyone has a jersey with their position, and their position determines where they can go on the court. I was given the easiest position, goal keeper. I stayed in one third of the court and played "defense" (you can imagine how well that went). I felt pretty useless, but luckily our shooter on the other end of the court was scoring about every possession for us, so I could relax when the player I was "defending" scored two out of everything three possessions.

This is just my pathetic interpretation of the most popular sport for females in Australia. For the real rules, go here or watch this (I felt like this guy playing).

What real people can look like playing netball...

More like what I looked like playing netball...(but we unfortunately didn't have someone with a cape?)

A big thanks to Kyla and Team Hoop There It Is for putting up with my pathetic attempt at netball and allowing me to tick off one thing on my Things to do in Australia list.