Photo credit: rolleh

“C’mon people, the clock is ticking and you’re not on the court yet!” said a timid voice from behind me. Turning, I realised it was the ref.

‘Oh geez’, I sighed. If she was scared telling us to get on the court, how was she going to go telling us when we had done something wrong?

I shouldn’t have worried. She never told us when we did something wrong, somehow those moments slid past unpenalised. Oh no, instead she called a penalty when we were clearly in the right. If you were holding the ball and someone knocked it out of your hands, she’d call contact. On you. Aka you lose the ball.

Um, righto.

As a result, a couple of players started to get frustrated (C included, as he couldn’t do anything right in her eyes, I suggested that maybe his height of 6ft 8 meant that in her opinion he needed to be at least 6ft 8 away from everyone else at all times). I simply laughed it off and kept playing, after all it was just a friendly competition, no need to get narky.

For a bit of background in my netballing history, I’m a defense player so I know when it’s necessary to use my body and be firm or not. I play firm but not rough, and certainly not dirty.  When it comes to super league my effort increases by 1000%, yet I still don’t resort to using knees, elbows and shoulders. It’s only when another player starts playing dirty against me that I will hold my position even firmer and use my body to push them around a little bit, but that’s incredibly rare. In this case the shooter and I had a great time chatting and laughing, but both playing seriously when we needed to. We also played respectively, appreciating there would be contact (inevitable in the game of netball) yet not getting phased by it at all and certainly not holding a grudge against each other.

And then my team swapped me into the shooting position.

I don’t play this position often, so I only know a couple of things:

1. Find the free space for your team to pass to you easily
2. Hold your position firmly in the circle so that the defence can’t get around you
3. Get yourself between your other shooter (goal attack) and defense so that you can hold the defense back, and let the goal attack take the shot without as much pressure

I suspect it was the last two items combined that got me into hot water. As a defense player my instinct is to get under the ring ready for rebounds, and my opposition wanted to get into that same position. I didn’t let them. This meant they weren’t able to easily defend the other shooter when he had the ball, and as a result, the defense did not like this.

My goal attack, Bretto, and I were doing well. We had made a comeback and got our team in front. I was holding the defense off him, getting a few shots in myself, and generally playing a good game. I was not playing dirty. Then suddenly…

WHAM! Shoved from behind!

“STOP FUCKING PUSHING ME!” she screamed.

I was stunned for a second, and then started laughing. Hard.

“Are you fucking serious?!” I replied. “Cause if you are, that’s really funny. Are you seriously trying to start a fight on the fucking netball court?”

Then shamefully, I uttered the stupid bogan tough line:

“If you want to start something, I will slam you.”

Urgh, not proud of that. But from that point on she tried her best to push me over, use elbows on me etc, and every single time I laughed. I couldn’t help it, her determination was impressive! Her anger even more so.

At one point I caught the ball, then tried to turn around to shoot. I merely pivoted on my foot to face the ring and in doing so stood up straight, where I found she was only 10cm from my face. Another rare moment for the night, the ref made the right call and penalised her for obstruction.  “She stepped in!!” the girl screamed at the ref. “Actually, I just rotated my foot” I replied in a smart ass tone.

Pretty clearly, I was a bitch for the rest of the game. A whole 3mins.

At the end of the game she tried to shake my hand, but I refused and said to her “no thanks, not if you’re going to start shit on the court”. I don’t think I’ve ever refused to shake someone’s hand outright like that before, and I was a little bit shocked at myself. But honestly, it’s just a game, there’s no need to play dirty and push people around unnecessarily. I’m not going to just forget about that when the whistle blows. My integrity stays with me during, and after, a game. I won’t excuse people pushing me, elbowing me and being dirty, and I certainly won’t shake their hand to reward them for it.

I wonder what will happen next time we play that team.

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And then this happened:

Last Thursday I was unlucky enough to bust my knee during a game of Netball. I’m not sure what happened exactly, if it dislocated or not, but it felt like my knee went one way and my body went another. Long story short and two days later I am on crutches with a big puffy knee that I can’t put much pressure on.

Three months later, it was followed by this:

My knee just after my knee reconstruction surgery

That was in December of 2008. After 2.5 years I’m finally making my way back to the netball court, under the blessings of my physio. I should point out this is also NOT under the blessings of my sister or one of my best mates. I believe their statements were along the lines of “you’re a dickhead”.

I won’t lie to you all. I’m scared, very scared. I don’t want to hurt myself, and I know that I run the risk of doing so by stepping back onto the court. Realistically though, every single person who partakes in any sport is taking a risk, and it would be foolish to believe otherwise. I’ve been doing my exercises and I’ve put in the hard yards with the physio. My body is as ready as it’s ever going to be.

I’ll also confess and say that it wasn’t my idea to get back out there. Truth be told, I probably wouldn’t be out there if C hadn’t asked me to join his team. I’ve had a few offers from friends and I’ve turned them down because it was easy to ignore them, but when C challenged me I accepted. He’d timed it perfectly.

I’ve had the craving to play again before but I’d always been able to push the thought to the back of my mind. A few weeks ago I watched the final between Australia and New Zealand, and was literally standing in the middle of the living room screaming at the defence to get an intercept. I felt the rush of the game come flooding back, and I wanted to play. C saw that, asked, and I accepted. I know I’m not doing this under any pressure from him at all, I’m going back because I want to. I’m scared, but I’m also nervously excited.

The most important thing is that I need to have realistic expectations for myself so I don’t get frustrated. I need to understand and accept that I’m not going to be as fast as I used to be, or that I won’t be able to move my feet as quickly as I could. I need to realise that it’s OK that I’m going to be afraid on the court the first time, and that I won’t be playing like a superstar (not that I ever did in the first place). I can only do my best and be proud of myself for being brave enough to get out there. I’m not sure how I’ll respond when I get out there; whether I’ll be afraid of people coming near me or if I’ll just stay rooted to the same spot for fear of moving. I might also go to the completely opposite end of the scale, and feel my competitive nature come flooding back as I play harder than I’ve ever played before.

I believe there will be some huge benefits in it for me. By playing again and seeing that my knee holds up I won’t be afraid of doing a fitness test anymore, one that I’ve been putting off for about a year now. That more than anything has really held me back; it’s the dark black thought niggling at the back of my mind saying “you’re afraid, you’re so pathetic, you’re afraid”. It’s true; I’ve been afraid to put my knee under the strain of the test, which meant that I wasn’t able to apply for the police service (I need to pass the beep test as part of the application process). My physio believes that while my knee is ready to return, he thinks I’ll psych myself out. I think that once again he’s spot on. Time to be brave and overcome my fears.

Wish me luck. I’m afraid, but I’m excited.

Kelsbells the netballer is back.

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Normally I would play Mondays and Thursdays (occasionally Wednesdays), and when the Superleague season was on I would also play Saturday nights. It was a lot, but I just couldn’t get enough of it. Going back and watching some games has been bittersweet; it’s great to still catch up with my friends on all my teams, but so very painful to not be able to join in. All that changed this year when I was asked to become an assistant coach.

Originally I was merely joining my friend Adam with Mix C but in a minor role; I would chip in when he wasn’t able to be there (if he was playing at the same time for instance). It was a no pressure job, and if I had something else that I needed to do that night, he understood (like if I had to work for Ravesafe at another music festival). Then Shane asked if I would help him coach Ladies B.

I’ve tried several ways of explaining why coaching with Shane made me more nervous than it did with Adam. I think I felt like I was able to take a backseat more than I would be with Shane; Adam would be dominant as the coach and I truly was only there on the off chance I was needed. With Shane, it almost felt like I was being groomed for a more serious role. I eventually agreed to coach with Shane, but only after really thinking it through. I found I just couldn’t pass on being more involved with netball. I was scared, but after the first night of coaching with Shane I knew that I shouldn’t have been so worried.

Adam and I haven’t had a chance to work together so it’s not fair to say it won’t be the same with him. I’m truly guessing. But after the first night with Shane, I feel like my eyes have been completely reopened to the sport. I’ve played netball for about 5- 6 years, so it’s not like I’m a stranger to the game. Yet listening to Shane talk and explain things to me, bad habits players had, things the attacking/defense were doing wrong, I was in shock. How did I miss all of this before? I’d like to give myself the benefit of the doubt and say that it was because I was too focused on my own performance to really be concerned about anyone else.

At the end of the night any questions I had about returning to netball had been answered. My mind has been made up not to play ever again – I just don’t want to risk another injury. But I’m really quite excited about this year – it feels like being an assistant coach will fulfil all my needs from the sport. I’ll be part of the team again, and will be able to work towards achieving the best possible result. All of this while I get to sit on the sidelines and know that I don’t have to worry about remembering to pack my knee and ankle guards. It’s perfect! So, another drink anyone?

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Tonight, my superleague division 2 mixed b team from kawana will front browns plains for the title of winner. I have never had that within my reach before and I am so damn nervous.

A few years back the kawana mens a team made it through to the final (when we were still in division 1) and all of us girlsl showed up with banners and horns and everything loud (there are pics on facebook, we even had painted faces). We screamed and cheered the boys on. It was a HUGE deal, and we were such loud supporters the other teams didn’t have a chance to make a peep. I don’t know how the boys managed under such pressure, but they did and came up with the goods.

Now it’s my turn. This year kawana has 4 teams that made the finals, and one of the other teams play at the same time as us. This means the cheering will be spread, but there will still be an audience.

So why am I nervous? I want to play at my absolute best, I don’t want to say at the end of the game that I let anyone down. I want to be the best damn defence out there. So at the moment all I can do is to be positive, have faith in my abilities, stay on my toes, and get out there and do what my coaches have trained me to do.

Damn I hope we win.

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When we got there I realized just how nervous I was, but it was coupled with a feeling of excitement. I just couldn’t wait to get out on court and play!

As it was I played quite well. I was talking well to Francis, telling him where the ball was and where he should be positioning himself, and damn he ha a great game. He was so quick and got a great deal of intercepts, it was fantastic. I am happy to report I got my fair share too, one of which I intercepted with my face and promptly caught. Proud but painful moment.

We lead the game for most of the way but only by a few goals at the most. It was a vey close game. We had a few hiccups and with five mins to go were down by three. We got a crucial intercept courtesy of Francis after which the WA on the opposing team dived holding her head but no one had touched her! Their team came together and we heard one of them clearly say “if we can get one more injury we have won this.” finally the WA could continue and the game went on. We scored the goal and were down by two.

The ball came back down their attacking end and we got another turnover. Then suddenly their GS was on the ground writhing in pain with a back injury. After the clock had counted down to only one minute left on the clock and he still hadn’t gotten up we knew it was over. Without those injuries I know we would have had them.

Thankfully because we finished 2nd on the ladder we have a second chance and play the winner of 3rd vs 4th who also faced off last night. That match is next weekend. I hope we win then we can meet the team from last night who resemble the Italian soccer team, damn divers.

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Then I was rewarded. The sides of my shoes opened to form a gaping hole for the side of my big toe, and a new pair of shoes because a necessity rather than a want. I waited until pay day, then no sooner had the clock struck 5pm and I had finished work for the day that I was headed out the door to Rebel Sports.

I thought I would be just doing the exact same as what I’d done back at the start of 2007. Look at the Asics Netburner range, look for the most expensive, and somehow convince myself expensive meant great (although my last shoes WERE pretty awesome). But this time I had an additional requirement – they had to be good for running too. So through the process of evolution I now needed a pair of x trainers, not just shoes to be used exclusively for netball. This whole area was new for me, I was in foreign territory.

I consulted with the footwear assistant on my dilemma. He confirmed running shoes were out, as were netball shoes. Then he got technical, which I’d never had before. I stripped for him (just my shoes – get your mind out of the gutter!) and paraded up and down the catwalk, I mean, store, in just socks. At first I was comfortable with it, but then during later discussions I decided I was never doing that again. He had observed everything I hate about my feet.

He pointed out that:

1. I have extremely wide feet at the front
2. I have a normal sized heel; and
3. Therefore I don’t have a normal shaped/size woman’s foot.

I asked if that meant I should be looking at men’s shoes, and he said while they had other women that did that (and I could if I wanted to) he thought I should still aim for the women’s shoes, but that my range was now limited. By a lot. In fact, to 4 pairs of shoes out of the total store. I could have added more, but he echoed my thoughts when he said it’s not worth going for the cheap shoes – with footwear you truly are paying for quality.

My choices were limited to a pair of each of the following brands: New Balance, Brooks, Nike (although grudingly, he said they were more designed for fashion than for serious stability), and some other brand that was obviously not very good because I can’t remember it. Now I should confess here and say I’m a HUGE brand snob when it comes to my trainers. I’m usually a 3 brand girl – Asics, Adidas and Nike. And giving his pain in recommending the NIke, that one was out. The other one I can’t remember why I didn’t choose it, but it was out too.

Which left me with the New Balance and Brooks. I’ve always always always thought in my mind they were both crap brands. But I wanted new shoes, and was willing to give them a chance. We measured up my feet, where we found I also had a massive foot. 10 1/2 in women’s shoes, holy moly! He went out the back to get the sizes while I sat down with a foot complex.

He came back and explained he’d forgotten they didn’t have 1/2 size shoes when you get up to the 10′s and so on with women’s shoes, so it was 10 or 11. I tried on the size 10 of the new balance (purple and very girly) and found my toe was touching the end, it was too small. Size 11 it was (FAR OUT!). Unfortunately they didn’t have a size 11 in the New Balance either, so if I didn’t like the Brooks then it was no go for me. I tried it on, and found that surprisingly it felt pretty damn good!

New Brooks x trainers

I went for a walk in it, he pointed out the benefits of the shoes, and I tried blocking out the brand and focusing on the feel. They were light, they felt supportive, and very very stable. I was sold, and was more keen than ever to replace my current shoes with this new pair. He escorted me up the front where I paid for them (scoring a 5% discount courtesy of my gym membership thank you very much) and made my way home. As I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve actually been wearing the shoes and occasionally looking down at them. There’s just so much silver!!

The technology section on the Brooks site sounds pretty impressive. MoGo etc etc. On the back of the shoe (you can’t really see it in that picture) is a bit of plastic that has the words “HydroFlow” on it. I couldn’t find anything on the internet, but on the label it says the shoe has a “Patented silicon-based system engineered to dampen shock at impact. Dynamically disperses fluid around the heel (huh?! Cool!). Never wears out, outlives the life of the shoe). Wow!

So tonight I crossed a new path – I’ve shrugged off the brand snob label and giving a new brand a go. In just under an hour I’ll be playing my first game of netball in them, and will have to give you an update of how they went. I have a feeling I’ll be very very happy.

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But I thought I would share a story with you all, of an exciting moment for me in the last quarter. I was GK (Goal Keeper) and a rather largish girl was GS (Goal Shooter). She had been defence for their team right up until this point. So the ball comes down to the Beenleigh shooting end for the first time, and Toni was defending the GA (Goal Attack) as she took her first shot. I was standing in front of the GS, not touching but very close, getting ready to jump in case of a rebound. The very next moment, I felt her push right up into my backside in an attempt to make me step forward, and out of position. Normally I don’t mind a little bit of contact, but this was a very hard shove. So, I pushed back.

After the goal had gone in (so all my positional tactics went to waste on this occasion) some of the guys mates with our team members starting joking in the background about the shove, and how she was making “these ones” (joking that she just wanted to touch my buttom). So I just laughed, and the guys said “get angry!” mucking around of course. So, still being silly, I jokingly said “raaaaaaa” to them. All of a sudden, the GS turns around and says to me “Go on, get angry! I’m only twice your size, so yeah, get angry!” in an extremely bitchy tone. I was totally shocked and just stood their with my mouth open in suprise (considering we’d been joking and I thought my pathetic “raaaaa” would have been proof enough). And in typical Kelly shock, I finally just started laughing my guts out.

So of course from that point on, it was “game on”. There was pushing, shoving, all sorts. She *cough* fell in the net a few times (course that wasn’t from my hip accidentally pushing her that way, nope, not me at all). But my chance to be a smart ass was when she had jumped to get the ball, come down and landed on my foot. Good umpires would see that, and call her for contact on me (given that I had just been standing there). With her foot still on top of mine, she twisted (normal GS tactic to get closer to the ring for an easier shot) to face towards the ring, absolutely crunching my toes in the process. I let out a huge “owwwww” to which the umpire replied “forcing GK”. What the f*@k! She lands on my toes, and I’M THE ONE FORCING? Yeah, whatever. I just shrugged it off cause we were winning, so that was good enough for me.

But then I caught the smart ass bug, so as the umpire walked away I said to the guys in the crowd (rather dramatically) “Last I checked her landing on my foot was her fault? NOT MINE” to which they all laughed and agreed.

Then I got the “Kel get your head in the game” from my coach, also known as my boyfriend Mat. So I knuckled down and got back and ignored everything else.

I’m happy to say that our Centre player, Megan, won 3 points towards best and fairest, and I got 1. FYI – every game the umpire gives the best 3 players on the court points towards it, and at the end of the season at the Grand Finals, they give a trophy to the player in each division who got the most points. So a trophy for ladies c, mix c, ladies B etc. So considering I had been a bit of a bitch, I’m stoked that I got points!!

I should have gone up to the GS (who got none), held up my points and said “Go on, get angry!”

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I got my last netball shoes in 2005 and blogged about them, so in keeping with the tradition (in more ways than one) I’m blogging about my new ones. And once again, they’re of the asics netburner series.

I must admit when it comes to my netball shoes I’m a snob. They have to be expensive, have lots of notes about all the technology in them, and lastly, has to be in the asics netburner range. I haven’t had anywhere near the amount of issues with my ankles since spending the money on these shoes, even when I slackened off on my ankle exercises *grin*.

So last night I headed to the Sunshine Plaza looking for some new shoes, with the ignites in mind. I found these at The Athletes Foot, but unfortunately had nothing in a size 10, however the guy was EXTREMELY helpful thus the store still remains at the top of my favourite footwear stores. He also offered to order the shoes in, and if I wasn’t so desperate to have these shoes before training I probably would have taken him up on that offer. Off to Footlocker, except they have zero netball shoes at all. I asked the girl there about netball shoes, and all she heard was the word “asics” and pointed me towards all the asics RUNNING shoes (for anyone who knows about sports shoes, they would know that running shoes and netball shoes are designed differently..running shoes don’t quite cater for the stop and go action of netball). Not impressed I left.

We arrive at Rebel sports where Mum located the ignites almost immediately. We ask the girl to get some for us, and she heads off to the back. Probably five minutes pass, during which time I’d put on my socks to try the shoes on. Bad move. She comes back and explains very apologetically that not only did she not have those shoes in that size, but there were absolutely no netball shoes in that size at all. Needless to say, there was no purchase and Mum and I gave up.

Today, I was determined to find these shoes so I would be ready to netball training tomorrow. During my lunch break I headed to Amart All Sports, and HURRAH there’s quite a range of netball shoes on the wall. I ask the girl about size 10 and she’s pretty confident they will have some. They don’t have the ignites, but I spot two on the wall that I’m interested in, the netburner pass and the netburner professional 3.

The professionals were nice, but the stability I felt in the pass was immediate. SOLD! The overall process took about 5 minutes, and while I was there I also picked up my red shirt for my Monday night netball team (only been in the team for about 2 seasons and finally picked up my team colour for my shirt haha) and as a surprise for the girls on the superleague team, a waterbottle holder. Now we’ll feel all special at Superleague when we can all just pick up the waterbottle holder and bring it on the court in one move. We’d joked about taking other teams holders because Kawana didn’t have one and we really wanted one. People reading this probably won’t understand, but trust me, they’ll be stoked!!

So anyway, these are my shoes, and I can’t wait for training tomorrow as a result!!

Oh, and mine don’t have the grey bit on the sole…and the gel extends further around the heel. They’re great!

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Last Saturday night was the grand final for the season. Mens B was the only team from Kawana to make the finals. Quite a few teams had made the preliminary finals (including my ladies C team), but only 3 had made the semi finals. Mix C, Mens B, and Over 30′s ladies. Mix C & Over 30′s Ladies bowed out, and Mens B confirmed its potential when it beat competition favourites Brisbane to make the grand final against Beenleigh.

Early Saturday afternoon some of the girls and Pete arrived at the centre to begin preparations for the grand final. Balloons were blown up, crete paper covered the wall (especially the newly formed “Kawana Supporters Corner”) and much to Viv’s dismay (owner of the centre) billions of little gold stars covered the bar upstairs. At about 3pm we left and headed home to get ready for the night. Chere had purchased coloured hair spray, but I just had my hair refoiled that morning and was issued with a hefty warning from my hair dresser. If I had sprayed my hair with the hair spray, I would have had a “Lucy Kennedy” moment and ended up with green or (worse) pink hair! I contemplated purchasing a wig but in the end couldn’t be stuffed.

At about 6pm Mat’s mum dropped us off at the centre and we made our way inside. I had borrowed a men’s team shirt off Viv (there was no way I was wearing my little netball dress there, and Mat was wearing his shirt), and upon entering it was immediately obvious where our crowd was. Kawana supporters littered the right hand side of the court (coincidentally – and note I’m being sarcastic – this was where we had stuck the posters that it was the Kawana Supporters Corner). We caught up with our friends, and Chere and I headed upstairs for our first drink of the night. The first of many.

As the night wore on and the Men’s game drew nearer, Adam grew more quiet. If you know Adam, its a bit unlike him to sort of fade into the background and just keep to himself. The other guys were also uncharacteristically nervous, but with the pressure of a final, a credible opposition, and 30 odd people coming just to watch you, I’d be bloody nervous too. It was Beenleigh’s first year in Division 1 Superleague as they had been pretty much killing their opposition in Division 2. They made quite an impression as a fair few of their teams made it to the final. Finally, it was time for their game.

I had managed another one (or maybe two – I wasn’t counting *grin*) cans of “courage juice”, also known as Vodka UDLs, and became a bit vocal. Frank had bought his air horn (you know the real “aroooga” ones?), we had other little horns, heaps of clappers (which were actually Adelaide Crows merchandise with the Adelaide bit scratched off), little bike horns (that died after about 5 squeezes), party blowers, and of course, our voices. Lorraine had lost her voice come Monday night actually!! The Beenleigh crew had also come prepared, but only with a drum kit. Thankfully, our air horn was a lot louder so every time the Beenleigh team would score we’d come back with air horns, cheering, and loads of annoying clappers.

The game started, and from the work go it was extremely tight. First we were up by about 5, then it was 2, then we were down, then we were up, then down again and so on and so on. The referees were fairly good, but the male started making a few bad calls towards the end. FYI – in superleague grand finals there are two referees on court so there can be no arguments about the umpiring. Every single guy on our team had an outstanding game. The amount of turnovers by Francis, Troy, Greg, Shane etc, it was just such an exciting game. Every turn over we got the supporters all went wild – cheering on the boys. Every time the other team got an intercept, we were also cheering on the boys – telling them to keep their chins up and they would get it back. Amazingly (but to their credit) they often did!!

With a minute and a half left to go in the game we started getting our hopes up, only to have our team lose the ball. Fear crept in, and we screamed more than ever. Then Francis, the wonderful thing he is, got a BEAUTIFUL intercept in Beenleigh’s attacking third, and brought the ball up for another goal by Kawana, and assured victory. The crowd went nuts. Adam knocked the opposing goal keeper over, got a warning, then continued walking into the shooting circle where he then knocked the opposing goal defence over. The referee brought the ball up a third to Beenleigh’s advantage. But it didn’t matter. Kawana had the game.

The game was insane. Our defence was strong and quick, our attacking level headed and accurate. The last few months of superleague this team just got better and better, and it is only fair that they walked away with victory. Mat was thrilled that he was still considered part of the team, even though he had had to drop out after he dislocated his knee a couple of weeks back (he has to get a knee reconstruction and walks with a limp). So his trophy currently takes pride of place on our bookshelf at home now.

I think we can confidently say that this team has brought pride back to Kawana, and a sense of team unity. After all, what can unify a team more so than drinking into the wee hours of the morning? Dancing, a tower of empty alcoholic vessels, and pizza. Adam and Mat had a competition to put a full slice of pizza into their mouths (they did it!!), Shane did a nude run down the street after the Kawana game, Erin DIDN’T do her nude run in centre court (as she had confidently told Adam and I that she would if Kawana won), and Karen and I fell into the cigarette machine when attempting a tricky dance maneouver. Who would have thought that trying to dip someone could be so difficult (I was the one getting dipped and didn’t have a clue!!)

It was a great game followed by an even better night. Congratulations to all the guys!! Shame it had to be followed by headaches Sunday morning, but nothing that water and panadol couldn’t fix. Can’t wait for the superleague break up party! Will definately blog that one.

Also a shout out to congratulation Francis, Shane, Liz (YEAH – GO LIZ!! – she was on my ladies C team) and Troy for their individual player of the year awards for their respective competitions. Also to anyone else from Kawana if I have forgotten you. Bring on 2007!!! Can we start playing now?

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Friday night
Pretty much nothing, just chilling at home with Mat watching some movies before we both pass out on the couch, wake up late and go to bed.

Saturday morning
While I lazed around in an extreme manner at home, slowly washing clothes and cleaning the house Mat went into work and went 4wd’ing with the boys. It was a mad rush for him to get home in time so we could head to Beenleigh for netball though.

Saturday afternoon/evening
Headed over to Adam & Chere’s place to join them in a car trip to Beenleigh for superleague netball. We stopped at Lone Star on the way to have some lunch, where we were extremely impressed with the value for money. We purchased some potato skins and garlic bread for an entree, and with 4 adults eating it we were full. Yet our main meals to come. We got some chicken burgers and a steak burger and were STUFFED with only 2 hours left to digest before our games. The food was delicious, and the garlic bread was so garlicy it warranted an immediate intake of Extra gum by all.

However, it didn’t stop us from requiring a post lunch coffee (and hot chocolate for Chere). We stopped at Hungry Jacks, where Chere was devastated to learn they didn’t serve HC’s so she would have to get one from somewhere else. She purchased some water instead to um….enhance her milk for Jack (ew ew ew ew ew). Mat and I managed to make a complete mess of the coffees, but I had asked for the drink tray so everything I spilt landed in there. Mat made it look like he had pissed himself *grin*

We kept heading towards Beenleigh for netball, and upon arriving at the netball courts with an hour or so until our game were a little shocked to see that there wasn’t anyone at the centre yet. It was completely locked up, with gates padlocked so you couldn’t even park in the car park. Chere reminded Adam that she hadn’t had her HC yet so we went on the prowl again, pulling up at the 7-11. Success!! They sold hot chocolate! Only problem? The machine didn’t work and mistook a hot chocolate for meaning milk and water. Yum. So Chere left it behind and went without her HC yet again.

Driving back to the courts, we saw the Golden Arches and went through the drive through again looking for a Hot Chocolate. “Sorry we don’t sell hot chocolates, would you like some fries with that?” Defeated, we headed back to the netball centre where we were pleased to find that someone had finally opened the gates and the doors to the centre. We parked and headed inside, where a big Nescafe sign greeted Chere. THEY SOLD HOT CHOCOLATE! She was set for the rest of the night.

Finally, it was time to play.

First game up – my Ladies C and Adam’s mixed B. I didn’t really follow Adam’s game as I was playing my own. I started out playing WD; and in a spectacular move that definately rivaled anything from John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, I rolled my ankle and went for the skid down the court on my knees with my hands in the air. Woohoo! Just a shame I had to skin my right knee in the process. I kept playing though (barely anyone had noticed since I’d jumped up so quickly and kept going) only for our WA to go down on her ankle as well. She called time while she recovered, so I ran off and got the First Aid guy to quickly bandage my knee. Upon re-entering the court I was handed the WA bib and finished off the quarter in that position. We lost that quarter.

Second quarter and we repositioned ourselves so I dropped back to WD. Didn’t bother me as the WA was a bit slow’ish (so I could keep up, thank god) and extremely easy to push around so my job was made all that more easy. She didn’t like being shunted and being held in one position, and I enjoy playing WD the most when I can tell that I’m pissing them off and doing my job successfully. At the end of the quarter, we were up and back in contention for the lead.

Before the third quarter I had to get my knee restrapped as the bandage kept coming off. Our WA had recovered enough to come back on the court, where she took up the GS position. After a shaky beginning getting adjusted to the ring, she got her eye in and I don’t think she missed a goal for the rest of the game. Our original GS took up the WA position which she didn’t seem to like (she’s a very confident lady and you can’t tell her otherwise, even if she’s not playing so great) and she began dropping a few easy passes. I think the rest of the team started getting a little edgy, but she pulled it together and we got back on track. Not soon enough though, as we yet again gave that quarter to the other team.

Fourth quarter and we came out firing. About 4 or 5 minutes into the quarter (12 minutes each quarter – 2 minutes longer than the standard inhouse games) the score was 6 – 1 to us. We managed to maintain that lead for the rest of the quarter, meaning that we took out that quarter and the game!! Woohoo!!

Each game the umpire gives out a series of points – 3, 2 or 1 to the 3 players he thought did the best jobs on court. Our centre Liz scored 3 points (most deservedly I might add, she just never gives up and reads the plays SO well) and I GOT 1 POINT! WOOOOOOOO I don’t recall ever getting points before so I am so proud. I swear its just because of my spectacular skid, and the fact that I thanked him after the game. But yay!!

Next game and it was time for Mat and Adam to head on for the hotly anticipated Mens B game. About 7 minutes in and Mat went down. Hard. He dislocated his knee again *frown* We carried him off and set him up in the stands with an icepack and some stuff to elevate his leg. With Mat being a bit peeved that he was off, the game continued with Sam in his place. The guys played okay, but there were definately some areas requiring improvement. Some passes, people playing for the wrong position etc. I’m sure they’ll work on it and figure it out though. But the referee was being terrible to them! Our defence couldn’t move without being called for some penalty, while the opposition were getting away with hitting Adam (playing GS) in the head. When they did it again, Adam finally let rip by turning quickly so their GK was thrown backwards a fair decent while Adam swore loudly. The ref told him that it wasn’t on and to settle down etc, but Adam simply said “i’m not upset!” and patted the GK on the back. the tactics worked because the dude laid off then. Unfortunately they didn’t win the game, but they tried very hard.

We finished watching the other games and then started the journey home. Mat took a six pack of painkillers for his leg (new brand – it’s called Jim Beam) and shared them with Adam in the back while Chere drove home and I occupied the passenger seat. Jack (Adam and Chere’s bub) was amazingly good all night – I don’t think I’ve ever heard him be a problem yet. He slept all the way there and just looked at stuff on the way back before finally dropping off to sleep again. Not a peep was heard from him all night unless he was a little hungry.

We got home and I set Mat up on the couch with cushions to elevate his leg and whatnot, but before I could have a shower I fell asleep next to him. We woke up and stumbled to bed until this morning, where i’ve been up and showered, washed Mat’s truck for him and picked up some groceries. Now that I’ve blogged this, I’ve got some clothes washing and house cleaning to do. I just wish the weather was a bit better. I don’t think I’ll be scrubbing the shower today though – not with my banged up knee.

Anyways, hope everyone else had a great weekend (injury free). We’ve got another netball game in a fortnight (Mat is NOT playing) so looking forward to that one. My knee should have patched up by then and I will doing more ankle exercises to make sure I don’t find myself in the same position over a year ago when I fractured my leg. Anyway, catchas!

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Since I started filling in for my friend for her inhouse teams I found I had begun enjoying the games again. Towards the end of last year I began really dreading the games, trying to make excuses on why I shouldn’t play that night. The one thing that I always swore not to do was to be a burden to my team. I wanted to be loyal, and dependable. But I wasn’t anymore. So I quit.

Filling in every so often has been fantastic. Although my first couple of games back I was getting REALLY frustrated. I couldn’t move my feet, I wasn’t watching the ball, I was doing everything wrong. Kimba could sense my mood and came over to give me words of encouragement. “Just keep moving your feet,” she said. “It will assist you to take that extra step.” Tried it tonight and it worked (thank god). It was about time I played some decent netball. So thanks Kimba!

So now I’m stuck with a dilemma. Do I go back on my original plan and return to netball early? Or do I say no to Megan for now, wait the final 3 months and hope that there’s room on a team for me in the future. Mat didn’t want me to play, but I think that’s only so that I’m home to cook him some dinner…grr…

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Technically I haven’t played in my team for a month. But last week I got a call from Nic saying they had qualified for the semi finals and didn’t have anyone other than myself eligible to play. You must have played in 5 games throughout the season to be registered for finals. Thus, she asked if I wouldn’t mind playing another game. I rocked up only to find out that as it was, we were still a player down. We played against Adam’s team in the semi’s, and while there was the usual controversy during the game, we managed to come out on top by about 5 goals. And as Jase kept pointing out, they were on their way back.

Last night was the grand final, we were still a player down, and we were taking on “Bite Me”. One of their players (nicknamed Bubbles) used to play for my team, until he convinced his mates from the Maroochydore indoor centre to come play at Kawana. Good move, because they were bloody competitive.

I was handed my usual position of GD (Goal Defence) and headed onto the court. First quarter was dead even at I think 7 all. That’s pretty low scoring for A grade, so it showed just how great the defense was and how well everyone was reading the other teams plays. There were several fantastic intercepts.

Second quarter we managed to inch ahead thanks to some great calls by the umpire. Few contacts by the male goal shooter and so forth. Brett was doing well at GK (Goal Keeper) to not go flying. I had remembered to put on some more deoderant at the end of the first quarter, so now confident that I didn’t stink I managed to get out there a bit more, call the shots. I got an intercept off the net at this point which I was very happy with. We won that quarter something like 8 – 6.

Third quarter was a blinder. Everyone was playing so goddamn fast and panicked. I was starting to get a bit fatigued…Oh, I should put in here that I’ve had a sore throat for the last week and have been drinking lemsip like there’s no tomorrow all to no avail. One of my clients at work is calling me Husky Kelly because of my lack of voice. So coughing a bit during the game wasn’t really helping much. I just hung back a bit instead of going out trying to defend the centre passes and managed to get enough rest to really get into it. The most memorable part of this quarter for me was when I did a horrible pass to Kaz (Karen) skimming down the right side of the net. She JUST missed it, and it flew down the the opposition centre. I immediately yelled out a big “sorry Kaz!” while dropping back onto the GS, and just as the WA (wing attack) went to drop a pass into the GA (Goal Attack) our C (Centre) Shane came racing between the two for a brilliant intercept. Cranky, the WA looked up at the ref who said it was clean and left it at that. Play on! I can’t remember the final score for this quarter.

Fourth quarter started off much like the third. It was quick and fast, only much better controlled. At this stage we were clearly in front. Halfway through the quarter, Hot Wax (my team) started slowing down and taking their time with the ball and centre passes, willing the clock to tick down. Pete suffered what looked to be a groin injury (with the comments from the opposition saying “oh yeah here we go, he knows exactly what he’s doing, he’s not hurt!”) and stretched his muscles by walking it off for about 30 seconds. I’m actually not shocked that his groin hurt, his legs were split that far apart when he caught the ball! I don’t know how, but I made it right until the final quarter and came off feeling pretty good. We had won!!

Headed upstairs to the bar to chat with friends and drink my water while waiting for the “medal ceremony”. 5 minutes later we were called back downstairs to the game counter. We clapped for Bite Me as they accepted their runner’s up trophies, then when our time came, shook Viv (the owner’s) hand as she presented us with our glorified objects. An Action Arena’s winners sports flask – cool! And then the biggest surprise of the night? I got player of the match! WOOHOO!

Then they tried to convince me to play superleague again, and once again I refused. Then it was time to go home, have a shower and go to bed!!!

A reflection…..
I couldn’t pass up the chance to show case my trophies over the past 3 years of my continuous netball career. Thinking back on what’s happened, I’ve had numerous sprained ankles (lost count), one REALLY great 2004 superleague party, one fractured leg, a dodgy 2005 Superleague party (which I didn’t blog about), and then um….that was it. Once I fractured my leg I haven’t rolled it since! How impressive. Going to the physio really did help!

Bragging moment
So check out the hardware people! This is the collection of “winners” objects that Mat and I have won together (I think the one that he won was the beer mug – the rest are mine). In total there is:

2 x wine glasses
1 x beer mug
1 x glass
1 x clock
2 x stubby coolers
1 x sports flask

This is the runners up trophies.

1x wine glass
1 x clock
1 x glass

And finally this is a big close up of the winner logo from the match…woohoo!!! You can see the flask on the right hand side of the collection of the winners trophies.

Everyone, I’ll see you at netball in 6 months!! If I’m there earlier, it’s because I’m upstairs at the bar having cheap drinks. See you then!

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We arrived at Caloundra RSL early so Mat and I headed off to the bar to get a drink each. He started his bourbon campaign while I had a “Strawberry Cocktail” which was really just a fire engine with a strawberry on the side. We didn’t really want to go into the function room yet as there wasn’t many people there that we normally chat to. So we just sat outside having a drink. After about twenty minutes or so we decided we would venture in, and thank god Adam, Chere, Erin and Jase had arrived.

After loads of finger food which we all hungrily tucked into (including Adam – you know that scene where Homer Simpson has all the waiters around him and he eats from all their plates?? Well no, Adam’s not like that. I thought I would just throw that in. Rather than get one item, Adam tends to get a stockpile) it was time for the awards. Chere had already told me that Adam was guaranteed an award, so when they said they would start with the Mix C netball team I got my phone out ready to take a photo of Adam’s face when they called him. And instead?

“The winner of Mix C is Kelly O’Brien”.

Have you ever seen the Academy awards where someone is just too shocked to even move? Well that was me. Because when they said that, I was like “what the fuck? Me? Huh? Are you serious!?” My coach was sitting at the table in front of me and turned around and was like “Yeah!! You!!” So after what felt like ages I found myself walking down to the front and accepting the award. And yes, like a big sook I had watery eyes. Oh, and I remembered to go over and give my coach a hug and a kiss on the cheek to say thanks too. But I never, ever saw that coming. Ever.

Awards continuing on, one of the very last speeches from a coach (Tony) was to the Mens B team which he said ” I had a great time coaching you all, you were all great guys except for Adam. He really shits me. So the rest of you, thanks very much.” Adam returned the love with a curse in Tony’s direction. (I should point out here that Tony is very very short, Adam is very very tall, and they both constantly take the absolute piss out of each other. I have never heard them say anything nice between each other, but I think there’s a LOT of respect there). Anyway, after that the very next award was “most improved player”. Told that this person had to be conned to play superleague, was dead set against it but by the end of the season you would never have realised it was the same person, and who was it? Adam!! But boy does he deserve his award!!

So anyway, after that it was party on until about midnight where Erin, Jase, Adam, Chere, Mat and I all headed to Mooloolaba for coffee (everywhere was shut) that turned into Pizza. We saw some fat little “king of the kids” kid threaten the worker at Dominos for calling the police on him. The manager at Dominos was afraid to even leave to go to the toilet, so that wasn’t on. The police came but the fat kid had taken off, but after they left he returned. As we were walking back to our car the police pulled up to the Servo so Adam took off and told them where the fat kid was, and they immediately flew over to “chat” with him. We left it there, had pizza in the park and then returned home.

**last notes**
Reason I got my award from my coach was because I never complained, if she asked me to sit off I would happily without whinging, that no matter where on the court she put me I did my job, that she put me at WD and I did it, then she put me as GA and I excelled. She said I absolutely deserved it, and everyone she spoke to agreed.

*wipes tear away* I’m so lucky!

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A hot cappucino and a ham and cheese croissant later, I’m continuing my drive to work. My toes are cramped, my thighs are sore, and my arms hurt to move. Finally, I’m at work typing this into my blog, and I’m starting to function a little bit better – that coffee sure is helping!! (but maybe that’s just psychological). And what is the cause of all this pain, you ask?

I played netball from 6pm – 9.45pm last night – 4 games (2xA grade!!)

OWW!

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Currently I’m opting for the first one because it offers more ankle support, but I’ve only priced the last for $130 at Amart All Sports. Going to shop around, check out Rebel sports and see how I go. No doubt the first pair will be bloody expensive! If I can afford it, the 1st pair will be the way to go.

(P.S. Not sure why I’m posting about this, but….eh. *shrug*)

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