Lightening Online

After hosting a massive Grand Final Day on Saturday, we all turned around and headed back to the club for our end of season wind-up and presentations. It was a HUGE weekend and I almost went through a box of tissues as every time someone went to tears, so did I.

Thankfully, tears were very much the order of the day so I felt quite at home.

Junior Presentations were held in the morning, followed by a pooled lunch (and I don’t want to know how many calories I consumed) and then senior presentations.

Singstar Princess had a training year this year. This is an excellent way for the girls to begin learning netball skills without being overwhelmed by playing an actual game. As she was one of the training girls, I wasn’t expecting her to be a part of the presentations. She had a wonderful coach for her first year (who was also coached our A grade) and the coach did include those training in her presentations which was lovely.

Here she is with her fellow “training” buddies (one is missing). In the background is her coach and our netball club President:

I’ll give you 1 guess which one of the girls is Singstar Princess (hint: she matches my blog ).

Lleyton was a little nervous leading up to the Presentations for his team. This was his first year as one of the “bigger” boys in the team and I think he was hoping he had a chance to win a trophy.

And he did! He got the trophy for most improved. His first football trophy!!! He has written about his experiences on his own blog (the blogging bug has bitten him too!!!), Lleyton’s Place.

Farmboy was assistant coach for Lleyton’s team this year. This photo shows his coach (with the microphone) and Farmboy being presented with thank you gifts by a couple of the senior members of the team:

Alright, enough about the rest of the family. On to ME.

Early on in the Senior Netball presentations there was an award presented that I didn’t even know existed. Thinking back, I think there was a similar one presented for the Senior Footballers.

They read out a page of writing about the winner of the award, omitting the name as they go. In my case, it was pretty obvious in the second sentence who they were talking about (at least to me) because we don’t have a lot of players that decide to take up netball after a 21 year break.

The Award was for the “Most Improved Senior Player”. It’s a perpetual award so my name is on the shield/plaque (no idea what it’s called really) which lives on the clubroom wall and I get my own trophy to keep.

Guess what? I’ve NEVER won a sports trophy before. Not for ANY reason.

As I sat there listening to what my coach had written about me, I got very teary. I said to the girl sitting next to me (who happened to be our incoming netball club president) that I was going to cry and she told me that was okay. I didn’t realise just how teary the whole presentations were going to be as this was very early on in the piece. And unbenownst to me, my coach was standing behind me in tears as well.

I’m sitting here with what she wrote about me in my lap, tearing up as I read through it again. I can’t make up my mind whether to type it out here or not. It’s quite long and I’m not sure which bits to include and not include.

This photo didn’t come out very well but I still wanted to include because it’s very special and important. This is me and Sharon as she presents me with the award:

I REALLY wanted to say something to acknowledge how appreciative I feel about the way the club has embraced me and also our family as part of it. It’s not a perfect club but it is a wonderful one and one we’re proud to call our own. I was worried though that I’d get all teary during my speech. Thankfully I somehow managed to pull it together enough to say what I wanted to say (at least I think I said what I wanted to say - it all goes in such a blur and you just hope you didn’t miss anyone out).

In this shot, I’m in the middle of thanking my team mates for winning a Premiership for me in my first year.

And this is me with the plaque that goes on the wall, my trophy and the Premiership medallion. It’s a much more flattering shot with all that wood to cover my flabby bits!!! Not a skeric of make up left after so many tears though. LOL.

Summary of My Netball Year:

I started out wanting to train with the girls for some fitness. We were there while Farmboy trained and it seemed senseless to me to sit on the sidelines and watch when I could be using that time to improve my fitness.

One week they were short on numbers at training and made use of me to make up a team. Getting a taste for netball after so many years made me realise how badly I wanted to play again.

There was a time of grief where I had to work through my feelings over being forced to give up netball as a child. It was a place where I felt loved and accepted in a way that didn’t happen a lot in my life.

After much angst and deliberation, I finally asked the coach if she could tell me when she thought I was ready to try playing in a game. Expecting this to be some time in the distant future, I nearly fell off my office chair when she suggested a game 2 weeks from the time of the conversation.

My team were amazingly supportive as I went to take the court for the first time. I was so nervous but soon discovered that nerves can actually be a helpful thing in a game of netball. They gave me some extra adrenaline to put that bit extra in.

At the end of the game they were so encouraging and the coach gave me the incentive award for the game. Everyone cheered and I got all teary so I hid in my bag (I wasn’t ready for everyone to see me all teary).

The club gave me a towel and pointed out that many people had been in the club for years and still didn’t have the coveted towel. I felt an overwhelming sense of belonging. It was very special and touching. For the first time I could really see why people get so passionate about their sporting clubs.

In July our club put on a midweek netball carnival. It was meant to be a bit of fun and designed to encourage those who don’t play or who’ve retired from playing to come and have a go. I was blessed to be in a team of encouraging people and gained quite a bit of court experience that day. Our team was most surprised to finish the day second. I felt sick when I realised it meant we’d have to play the top team AGAIN and this time with everyone else watching!!! I didn’t expect to win but don’t think I’d appreciated how much my team-mates had held back in the spirit of the day. Our opposition had taken the day a bit too seriously so we played harder in the final and WON!!!! It was a really GOOD feeling and I got my first winners medallion (albeit a cardboard one ).

The season brought with it many ups and downs and so many times I thought about giving up. Thankfully I had some great encouragement and support around me and kept going through those times.

When we reached the finals, I contemplated not playing. I’d had my fun and achieved what I wanted to achieve and didn’t want to hold my team back from their chance at winning. Something deep within didn’t want to step aside. I wanted to be a part of the team right to the very end.

Many coaches would have made that decision for me by sitting me out during the finals. It’s common practise to play your best team during the finals. On the same day that I decided I would REALLY like to play a tiny bit in the finals, my coach also came to the same conclusion.

I am SO glad now that I got to play in that Grand Final. It helps me to feel a part of the win, even if my netball skills didn’t necessarily contribute.

Completed the year by being awarded the Most Improved Senior Player for our netball club.

All that’s left now is the Victory Dinner which is sure to be a great night and a fabulous way to finish my first year of Senior Netball. I feel like I have a lot to celebrate.

The question now is: How am I supposed to ever top this??? I think I’m not. Just hold onto it as a fond memory - one to cherish for life!!!

I never dreamed that my decision to train with these girls for fitness would end up like this! But I’m sure glad I did!!!!