My (sporty) boyfriend watched elite netball for the first time… Here’s everything he said!
Play Netball’s Sports Marketing Coordinator, Hannah, realised her boyfriend had never watched a professional netball match before, so she decided to write down everything he said and what they spoke about during one of England Netball’s Commonwealth Games matches. (He’s fab & really loves watching and supporting both women’s and men’s sports… Just had never watched an elite netball match before!)
Here are his completely unfiltered reactions…
“You told me you can’t do a ‘short pass’ but literally all they’re doing is short passes!?”
Starting strong, he makes a good point… I can see why he’s confused.
“They are all SO tall?”
Fair observation. All the teams want their shooters and defenders to be tall, but not all positions are ‘tall’!
“She was legit running with the ball, isn’t that footwork?”
Welcome to elite netball, where everything happens approximately 400% faster than your eyes can process. Also, she wasn’t running with the ball! Have you ever seen a ‘walking race’? It’s like an optical illusion.
“This is very contact-y.”
Yes. Yes, it is.
“No one argues with the umpire, they just shut up and get on with it.”
This is why I also love rugby. It’s a bit like umpires narrate the game. The players just play, and then each time the whistle blows, they stop and follow the instructions! Rarely they’ll argue!
“I thought WD was the least important position? She (Imogen Alison) is a baller!”
Justice for Wing Defence. Finally.
“Are professional matches only played indoors?”
Apparently, elite athletes don’t fancy chasing the ball across the car park in 40mph winds. Where would the sponsors put their advertising?! But seriously, it’s much easier to keep the high standard court conditions, and no weather worries!
“Why are Australia so good?”
We’d also like the answer to this one, please.
“My knees could never!”
& women have a much higher chance of injury!
“So you can contact a player when they don’t have the ball, but not when they have the ball?”
Hmmm. This is when he started to realise the rules might be slightly more complicated than expected.
“Why are they being interviewed in the middle of playing a game? It’s like a mid-game F1 grid-walk.”
His reaction to the mid-game player interviews was dramatic but agreeable. Why do some sports interview players and athletes right before/during their event, they need to focus!
“This is way more fast paced and physical than I thought it would be. Contact all over the show.”
And there it is. The sentence every netballer loves to hear someone say!
“What’s the point in defending shots? They (GS) don’t miss.”
Excellent. Let’s simply stop defending and see how that works out.
“Why are all the coaches and umpires from Australia or NZ?”
He’s now conducting a full investigation into international netball. Maybe this was because we were losing.
“Players should have a max limit of fouls before they get sinbinned.”
One match in and he’s already rewriting the rules. I actually like this.
“But literally why do they push each other like that?”
Remember approximately five minutes ago when you thought netball wasn’t physical?
If you’re looking for a fun, friendly and social way to get back into netball, you can find your nearest league on the Play Netball website.