The next challenge to be completed (in August 2014) was to play my first ever game of netball - when I say “play”, I was on court!
Gel Williams, head coach at Grangetown Netball Club had been kind enough to invite me down to take part in a game towards the end of one of their training sessions. At the time, the senior side played in National Premier League 2 and were ranked within the top twenty clubs across the country: very much the deep end then!
But to say I was totally unprepared would be slightly unfair. I’d lost a stone in weight during the preceding fortnight, I’d been pedalling around forty miles a week on the exercise bike - and I’d watched loads of netball from the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
What could possibly go wrong?!
Well, apart from the fact that years of cricket and badminton had left my hips in a pretty poor state.
I knew that I’d be struggling to walk the following morning, but hoped the old limbs would keep me upright for at least one more sporting challenge.
I arrived at Grangetown’s Youth & Community Centre about an hour before the moment of truth. As I watched the girls being put through their paces, I must admit the nerves kicked in, and I started to question the wisdom of including this challenge in the list. There was a whole world of difference between young and athletic, and old and immobile - oh, and they were all excellent netball players, whilst I’d er ... watched the Commonwealth Games.
I spent a few minutes warming up in the corridor outside the sports hall. One thing I’d learned from all these challenges was how to smile for a photo. So I gave the security camera one of my best grins every time I skipped past; I might even have waved at one point; it just seemed the polite thing to do...
Some of the girls knew I was coming, but I accept it must have been a fairly incongruous sight as I entered the main hall. I had a few practice shots at a basketball hoop at the side of the hall, before being handed the goal shooter bib; I strolled onto the court, the whistle went and just like that, we were underway.
I had to check the colour of my bib (blue) because I honestly wasn’t sure who was on my side! I wasn’t expecting to have too much trouble catching the ball, but getting in a position where it could be thrown to me was a different matter altogether. I was being “marked” by a young lady called Amy, who had this annoying habit of getting in the way of the ball and me. It certainly didn’t seem very sporting!
All I can remember when I first received the ball was someone yelling “shoot!” from the sidelines. I didn’t that time, but the attempts I had during the first half all missed. Most were close - one agonisingly so - but one shot missed by a margin that was wide enough for it to be more accurately described as a “pass”.
My throat had dried up completely, but I was really enjoying myself; and even though I knew I was totally out of my depth, it was still fantastic to get that briefest flicker of memory of how it used to feel to play a competitive team sport.
A couple more shooting chances came my way in the second half and finally the moment arrived, as I actually managed to project the ball into and through the hoop, rather than at it. I’d like to think the crowd went wild….
One more shrill blast on the whistle and it was all over. At the end of the session, the girls all posed for the obligatory photo. It was the easiest “spot the odd one out” competition in history, but everyone had been really supportive and welcoming, and even though my netball debut was arguably one of the worst ever seen, I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.
Gel Williams, head coach at Grangetown Netball Club had been kind enough to invite me down to take part in a game towards the end of one of their training sessions. At the time, the senior side played in National Premier League 2 and were ranked within the top twenty clubs across the country: very much the deep end then!
But to say I was totally unprepared would be slightly unfair. I’d lost a stone in weight during the preceding fortnight, I’d been pedalling around forty miles a week on the exercise bike - and I’d watched loads of netball from the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
What could possibly go wrong?!
Well, apart from the fact that years of cricket and badminton had left my hips in a pretty poor state.
I knew that I’d be struggling to walk the following morning, but hoped the old limbs would keep me upright for at least one more sporting challenge.
I arrived at Grangetown’s Youth & Community Centre about an hour before the moment of truth. As I watched the girls being put through their paces, I must admit the nerves kicked in, and I started to question the wisdom of including this challenge in the list. There was a whole world of difference between young and athletic, and old and immobile - oh, and they were all excellent netball players, whilst I’d er ... watched the Commonwealth Games.
I spent a few minutes warming up in the corridor outside the sports hall. One thing I’d learned from all these challenges was how to smile for a photo. So I gave the security camera one of my best grins every time I skipped past; I might even have waved at one point; it just seemed the polite thing to do...
Some of the girls knew I was coming, but I accept it must have been a fairly incongruous sight as I entered the main hall. I had a few practice shots at a basketball hoop at the side of the hall, before being handed the goal shooter bib; I strolled onto the court, the whistle went and just like that, we were underway.
I had to check the colour of my bib (blue) because I honestly wasn’t sure who was on my side! I wasn’t expecting to have too much trouble catching the ball, but getting in a position where it could be thrown to me was a different matter altogether. I was being “marked” by a young lady called Amy, who had this annoying habit of getting in the way of the ball and me. It certainly didn’t seem very sporting!
All I can remember when I first received the ball was someone yelling “shoot!” from the sidelines. I didn’t that time, but the attempts I had during the first half all missed. Most were close - one agonisingly so - but one shot missed by a margin that was wide enough for it to be more accurately described as a “pass”.
My throat had dried up completely, but I was really enjoying myself; and even though I knew I was totally out of my depth, it was still fantastic to get that briefest flicker of memory of how it used to feel to play a competitive team sport.
A couple more shooting chances came my way in the second half and finally the moment arrived, as I actually managed to project the ball into and through the hoop, rather than at it. I’d like to think the crowd went wild….
One more shrill blast on the whistle and it was all over. At the end of the session, the girls all posed for the obligatory photo. It was the easiest “spot the odd one out” competition in history, but everyone had been really supportive and welcoming, and even though my netball debut was arguably one of the worst ever seen, I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.