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Netball: the ideal Transition sport? 140,000 women play netball in the UK. Since 2010 more than 22,000 have rejoined the sport through the Back to Netball scheme run by England Netball. When a Back to Netball scheme finishes, there are small, independently run initiatives such as Get Active, which encourage participation in the sport for the long term through not-for-profit social leagues. The people I’ve played netball with have included corporate professionals, social workers, creative types, teachers, students and everything between. We come from all ethnic backgrounds. On a match day I, a 35-year-old woman, am as likely to find myself partnered against someone in their late fifties The rise of netball in the UK as a social sport is mirrored by success for England’s netballers here shown celebrating a third consecutive victory over world champions Australia. Photo courtesy of England Netball Working in a Transition Initiative means developing trust with people who you may know very little about. It can be hard work building trust, but without it you can’t progress. Hannah Davey says netball has a similar dynamic: There’s something wonderful about being in a team with people you trust, working towards the same goal. You each have an important role to play. Together you are strategic, you know what moves you need to make. Sometimes it’s difficult and stressful. You know you need each other. That’s as true for campaigning against fossil fuels or being part
of a Transition Initiative as it is for a team sport like netball, where each player is assigned a specific position and no one player is allowed to set foot in every part of the court. Without all seven players working together, it’s impossible to get the ball from one end of the court to the other. Netball is a team sport that anyone can play. It’s about fitness, timing and strategy rather than brute strength. And it’s ‘no contact’ - you can’t be closer than 90 cm to someone who has the ball. Some women may have less than happy memories of netball at school – all that waiting to be ‘picked’ by the captain and not
wanting to be last. But adult netball is very different – there’s a real understanding of the ‘we’ as opposed to the ‘I’ – it’s a cliché, but ‘team spirit’ is absolutely key. Netball is also increasingly a sport played by men alongside women, with more and more adult men playing in mixed teams in social leagues. And, whereas netball used to be seen by boys and teachers as a “girl’s game”, these days it’s on the rise in schools as a mixed sport, with the support of the game’s governing body, England Netball. But it’s the current popularity of netball among women that’s extraordinary. Every week over
“It felt like a real win when so many netballers engaged with my political life” as a 16-year-old. This might seem problematic, but in netball you play to your strengths. For example, older people have a magnificent economy of movement – making up for what they may lack in agility with experience and enviably efficient timing. I’m an environmental campaigner as well as a netball player – these things are usually quite separate. But when energy giant, EDF, recently tried to sue me and my No Dash For Gas colleagues for shutting down
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its power station, campaigning inevitably crept into every corner of my life, including netball! My club manager wrote a character reference for me for court – that’s a law court not a netball court! And, along with 64,000 infuriated members of the public, nearly everyone in my netball club signed a petition to tell EDF to drop its £5m lawsuit, which, ultimately, they did. It felt like a real win when so many netballers engaged with my political life. I’ve often wanted to be able to achieve in campaigns what I can with my netball team: we mix tactics and set-plays with fleet-footed flexibility. When we’re doing well, we feel we can do anything. Being part of a team requires tact and diplomacy, give and take. In my team – Britannia Royals in the London borough of Hackney - we’ve worked hard on how we communicate with each other, both on and off court. And with some of us having played together for years now, we can see our collective efforts paying off. We are a strong, happy, healthy community – one of the strongest I’ve ever experienced actually. So I’d encourage anyone to try netball – it’s arguably the ultimate team sport and great training for Transition! Hannah Davey is an environmental campaigner, freelance writer and graphic designer.
“Transition is a network of positive community responses to climate change and the need to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, as well as an alternative to failing global economic systems” Transition Free Press is printed on 100% recycled non-chlorine bleached paper using non-toxic inks. Please recycle or compost. All content © 2013 Transition Free Press unless otherwise stated. Every effort has been made to contact the copyright holders for permission to use their work.
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