by Lisa Gibbs
About the Book
Why does Prani feel she has disappointed the Gems?
Prani is the comedian of the Gems. She never takes anything too seriously, even netball, and loves having fun with her teammates. But when Coach Janet enters the Gems in a netball tournament and asks them to use set plays, everything changes. Now that there are more rules on the court, Prani can’t move like she used to and begins to feel that she is letting the rest of the team down.
Will Prani be able to find a way to continue playing her fun and fluid style of netball?
Contents
Cover
About the Book
Title Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
The Marrang Gems
Player Profile
Netball Drills
Netball Positions
Also in the Series
Copyright Notice
Prani’s heart leapt as she reached up for the ball. Somehow, when she was in the air, she felt as if she had all the time in the world. She grabbed the ball firmly, twisted her body midair, then landed facing in the opposite direction.
Maddy was there, crouched and ready, waiting for Prani’s pass. But instead of reaching out for a catch, she let her hands drop to her side and stood up straight. ‘Do you realise what you just did? It was amazing!’
‘What?’ Prani asked.
‘You just … I don’t know, you twisted around in the air! Didn’t she, Eve?’
Eve nodded. ‘Totally! How did you do that, Prani?’
‘I don’t know!’ Prani giggled.
‘See if you can do it again,’ urged Maddy with a glint in her eye.
Eve stepped closer and sent an anxious glance towards Janet, their coach. Eve played for Thomson in the winter competition, but had joined the Under 13s Marrang Gems with her friend Kasey for the summer competition. Eve liked making sure she did everything properly. She was always careful to stick to the rules and, at the moment, that meant doing exactly what Janet said, even though she was curious about how Prani had made her spectacular move!
‘It looks pretty cool, Prani, but you’d better not try it again just now. That’s not what we’re supposed to be doing. We’re supposed to be practising the pivot. Remember?’
The pivot was a standard move in netball that involved keeping one foot still and stepping around with the other to face a new direction. Janet often got them to practise the pivot at their Wednesday afternoon training sessions because it was such an important netball move. Once she had even taught them the super-pivot: instead of turning around in lots of small moves, the player turned a full 180 degrees all at once!
‘You wouldn’t need to pivot on the ground if you could turn in the air,’ Maddy pointed out to Eve.
‘It’s okay.’ Prani smiled. ‘We can stick with the drill. What were we supposed to be doing, again? I forgot.’
Maddy laughed affectionately at her best friend. Prani never paid much attention to details.
Eve patiently went through the drill that Janet had set them. ‘Maddy and I stand far apart facing each other and you stand in the middle. I throw the ball, you catch it, pivot around and throw it to Maddy. Then Maddy throws it back to you. You catch it, pivot around and throw it to me. We do that back and forth for a while and then swap positions so we all get a turn in the middle.’
While Eve was explaining the drill, Prani looked at her intently, nodding her head.
Satisfied that Prani now knew what they were meant to be doing, Eve walked back to her original position.
Maddy’s eyes were twinkling. ‘So did you get all that?’ she whispered.
Prani shook her head. ‘Nope!’
Maddy shoved her into the middle position. ‘Just catch and pivot.’
‘I can do that!’
Prani ran forward to catch a pass from Eve. It was another high one so she sprang up, gathered the ball, twisted around in the air and, as soon as she landed, passed the ball straight to Maddy.
‘You did it again! Woo hoo!’ Maddy cheered.
‘Prani, that’s not the drill!’ Eve stomped over, exasperated. ‘I told you, we’re supposed to be practising the pivot.’
Prani stepped backwards. ‘Sorry, Eve. I thought I had pivoted … I turned around. Isn’t that what we’re meant to be doing?’
Around them, the other players had fallen silent and were looking over. Prani glanced around her, conscious that she was being stared at, but she didn’t know what she had done wrong. She started at the sound of Janet’s voice behind her.
‘What’s happening?’
‘We’re trying to do the drill,’ Eve explained, ‘but Prani can’t seem to get it right.’
‘Prani’s doing this twist thing …’ Maddy started to say. She had meant to explain how amazing Prani’s move was but it had come out sounding all wrong.
Prani’s face went red and she stared at Janet with her big brown eyes.
‘Show me what you’re doing and we’ll sort it out,’ Janet said to the three girls.
Prani went back to her spot and desperately wished she had listened more closely to the instructions, now that everyone from her team – and her coach, too – was watching.
I don’t know what she wants me to do! Prani thought desperately. She had been pivoting, but clearly she wasn’t doing it right.
Maddy held the ball. She nodded at Prani. ‘Show them,’ she said, and then she sent a high ball sailing towards her friend.
Prani leapt up, caught the ball, twisted around, landed facing Eve, then swiftly passed her the ball.
She heard a collective gasp from her teammates.
‘Ah!’ said Janet. ‘I see what the problem is here.’
Prani looked at her coach, holding her breath. What? What have I done?
‘Yes, you’re right, Eve. Prani did not do what I asked you all to do.’
Eve nodded seriously.
‘Instead,’ Janet continued, smiling this time, ‘Prani has taken it to the next level. This isn’t something I would expect from players of your age but Prani has aerial athleticism that is purely instinctive.’
Prani finally relaxed when she saw Janet smiling. Thank goodness. I think she’s happy with me!
‘But what does that mean?’ Kasey asked.
Lily piped up. ‘It means Prani’s just naturally … twisty!’
‘I told you it was amazing, Prani,’ said Maddy. ‘You looked as good as a Diamonds defender!’
Prani grinned and then realised she had no idea who the Diamonds were – although the name did sound familiar … ‘What?’
‘The Australian netball team. Remember? We watched them play a game!’ Maddy wondered how Prani could have watched a whole live game between the Australian Diamonds and the New Zealand Silver Ferns and still forget what the teams were called – but then she remembered that Prani had lost interest halfway through and had started flicking popcorn at the spectators! Maddy thought it was funny that Prani didn’t really follow international netball, even though she loved to play herself.
‘Yay!’ cheered Prani. ‘Twisty is good, then!’
The drill was over now, and all the players had gathered around Janet. Normally they’d try to listen
quietly to her instructions but today their excited chatter and laughter kept bubbling up. Janet had registered the Gems for their first ever netball tournament. It was being held during the break in the summer netball competition: next weekend! The girls were thrilled about being away together for a whole two days and two nights.
‘All right, since you can’t stop talking about it, let’s just run through who can make it before we continue with our next drill,’ Janet said, with a list in hand. ‘Lily, obviously.’
Lily grinned. Lily was Janet’s daughter and they always went to every netball activity together.
‘Isabella, Sienna, Eve and Kasey – are you all still okay to come?’
Each of the girls nodded eagerly.
‘Maddy and Prani – you’ll both be there, and your mums will be coming to help out, too, is that right?’
‘Yep, Mum’s coming,’ said Maddy.
‘My mum will be there, too,’ said Prani.
‘Okay, any questions before we finish?’ Janet asked.
‘What do we get if we win?’ asked Lily.
‘Yeah,’ added Maddy, ‘do we get a trophy?’
‘You each get a medal if you win,’ Janet replied.
‘Yes!’ said Maddy. The others grinned back at Janet, their eyes gleaming in anticipation.
‘Who cares about medals,’ said Prani. ‘We get to have two days of netball, fun, netball, and fun!’
Everyone laughed.
‘Harrington is a two-hour drive away, so we’ll go up on Friday afternoon, stay for the netball games on Saturday and Sunday, then drive home on Sunday afternoon,’ Janet explained. ‘So Friday: meet at our house at four o’clock sharp. Don’t be late or we’ll get stuck in Friday-night traffic.’ Janet looked pointedly at Prani.
Why is she looking at me? I’m not always late. Well, not really. Oh no, what time did she say?
Janet continued. ‘I know you’ll miss the Gems who can’t make it to the tournament. Jade’s away with her family for the holidays so she can’t join us. And Phoebe’s still overseas. But I have some exciting news: even though Maia hasn’t been with us in the summer competition, she’ll be there for the tournament. Her cricket competition doesn’t start back until the following weekend.’
‘Woo hoo!’ called Sienna.
‘And Maia will be there for my birthday party next week, as well!’ Prani added. Lately, Prani had developed a habit of linking everything to her party. She was so excited to spend a whole afternoon with her friends, her mum and her nani. Her mum had even asked if there was a present to do with netball that she wanted! Prani’s eyes glazed over as she began to think about all the possible netball-related presents she could have …
‘Great! I’ll ask Maia if she needs a lift,’ said Isabella.
‘Girls!’ interjected Janet. ‘We’re here to train.’
Prani and Sienna stifled giggles as they all attempted to concentrate on what Janet was saying.
‘We’re going to try some set plays for the tournament. This will help everyone to know what they need to do and to score goals as quickly as possible. Get into position for a half-court match and I’ll show you.’
Prani ran onto court with the other girls. Most of them raced for their favourite position but Prani didn’t care where she ended up. She loved playing all of the positions. She found herself in the goal circle as Goal Keeper against Kasey as Goal Shooter. Sienna was ready as Goal Attack, standing next to Isabella as Goal Defence, Maddy was set to be Wing Attack against Eve as Wing Defence, and Lily stood in the Centre on her own. The other half of the court was empty and would be out of bounds for the half-court match.
Janet walked them through the play she wanted them to practise. ‘At the centre pass, the Centre throws to the Wing Attack, the Wing Attack throws to the Goal Shooter, who comes out to the side of the goal circle, and then the Goal Shooter throws to the Goal Attack, who has run into the goal circle. Then the Goal Attack goes for goal. Got it?’
Prani frowned. She didn’t quite understand. Does this mean we have to throw the ball in that exact way? What if the right players don’t get away from their defenders and someone else is free instead?
When everyone was ready, Janet tossed Lily the ball, then blew her whistle. Prani watched as Lily threw the ball to Maddy. Prani bounced on her toes, ready to stick close to Kasey, but Kasey darted out to the side.
Oops, missed that one!
Kasey had left her behind, but Prani was prepared for the next pass. She raced up to block Kasey’s pass to Sienna. Kasey hesitated when she saw Prani there, but dutifully threw it to Sienna anyway. Prani instinctively responded to Kasey’s throw. Arcing her body sideways, she intercepted the pass and turned to throw it to Eve.
Janet blew the whistle. ‘Great intercept, Prani, but let’s give everyone a chance to get the hang of the set play. Not too much pressure in defence, okay?’
Prani nodded but she still felt confused. What’s the point of that? We can’t ask the other team to back off just because we have set plays!
Under Janet’s instructions, they practised the set play again and again. Once Janet was sure they had it right, she introduced a new set play.
‘This time, Centre throws to Goal Attack, runs down to take a return pass, then throws it in to the Goal Shooter.’
Prani frowned. It seemed as if Janet was locking their whole game up with rules about who they could and couldn’t throw the ball to. What I like about netball is that there are only a few rules to follow, but then you can pretty much go with the flow!
Lily stood ready for the whistle. When it sounded, she threw the ball to Sienna first, and then ran down alongside the goal circle to take the next pass.
Prani continued to defend Kasey as they practised the set plays over and over again. She didn’t get to touch the ball once, because Janet had told her not to defend too hard. This is kind of boring, she thought.
‘Okay,’ called Janet, after they had gone through the second set play a few times. ‘Swap positions now, so you can try the set plays in different roles.’
‘Yay!’ Prani smiled at Kasey. She loved the variety of playing different positions.
When the whistle blew, and the ball was coming down the court, Kasey as Goal Keeper blocked Prani as Goal Shooter from running out to the side. Prani ran to the front of the goal circle instead.
Brrrp!
‘Prani, for this set play you need to run out to the side of the goal circle to take the pass from the Wing Attack,’ said Janet.
‘But Kasey was blocking me,’ explained Prani.
‘Kasey, you need to give Prani a chance to try the move,’ said Janet.
But shouldn’t we be able to change the move if we need to? Prani sighed and got ready to attempt the set play again.
Finally, after lots of run-throughs, Janet called the session to a finish.
‘Well done, girls. Set plays can be really helpful. If an opposition team is putting pressure on you, causing you to make hasty passes, a set play can calm you and keep the team steady. These are the two set plays I want you to use for centre passes at the tournament on the weekend.’
Prani’s shoulders slumped. She was not a fan of the set plays but the other girls looked keen.
‘Yay! I like knowing where we’re supposed to go,’ said Eve.
‘How will we know which one to use each time?’ asked Lily.
‘Whoever is playing Centre gets to decide. You’ll need a secret sign to tell your teammates which one you’re using without the opposition finding out.’
‘Ooh,’ said Sienna, ‘a secret sign!’
‘That’s awesome!’ said Isabella. ‘I love secret signs!’
Prani jumped up and down, waving one hand in the air. ‘I know! I know! What if the Centre makes a noise like … like … like a sneeze for one play, and a cough for the other!’ She giggled then demonstrated a huge sneeze and a loud hacking cough.
Maddy pounded Prani on the back when the pretend cough turned into a real one. ‘
It wouldn’t exactly be a secret sign if we went through that every centre pass!’ said Maddy, laughing.
Janet grinned. ‘Yes, best to keep it simple.’
‘What about we use our foot?’ suggested Lily. She stood steady with the ball in both hands and her right foot forward. ‘Your foot points to whoever you’re going to throw the ball to.’
‘Perfect!’ agreed Maddy. ‘Obvious for us, but nothing the other team will notice. What do you think, Prani?’
I have to admit, it’s a lot better than my idea.
‘I’m in!’
‘There, Mum! Just there.’ Prani pointed at the group standing in front of Janet and Lily’s house. The car drew to a stop and Prani jumped out. ‘Hi, everyone! Ready to go?’
‘Prani, you’re late,’ said Lily.
‘Am I?’
‘We’ve been waiting for an hour and now it’s going to take forever in the traffic,’ grumbled Maddy.
‘Yeah, and that means we won’t get to have dinner till much later. It’s going to be a long, boring, hungry trip,’ said Sienna.
Prani felt her face go bright red. Everyone looked so annoyed. She hadn’t meant to be late, but she’d lost track of time talking about her birthday party with Nani and getting the music playlist ready for the car trip.
I hate everyone being angry.
Prani silently helped Kasey put her bags into the boot of the car then shoved her sketchpad and coloured textas out of Kasey’s way so they could both climb into the back seat. They waited for a moment while Janet, Prani’s mum, Radha, and Maddy’s mum, Kim, worked out which way they would travel, then Radha hopped into the car and pulled out from the kerb, and the netball convoy set off.
