Family: Mum, Dad and 14-year-old brother, Max
School: Shady Gums College
Hobbies: Phoebe feels like the luckiest girl in the world because she has her very own mini netball court in her backyard! In her free time, Phoebe loves practising her netball skills, especially her goaling. Her favourite people to practise with are her dad; her babysitter, Caitlyn; and her new friend, Lily, who also plays for the Marrang Gems. Phoebe often finds herself daydreaming about being a superstar goal shooter, and although she is shy to admit it, she hopes to one day play for the New Zealand national team, the Silver Ferns. Phoebe relaxes by helping her mum make Kremšnita, her favourite Croatian dessert, which she thinks is the perfect combination of crispy, crunchy pastry and smooth, sweet custard.
Netball club: Marrang Netball Club
Netball team: Marrang Gems, the Marrang Netball Club Under 13s team
Netball coach: Janet
Training day: Wednesday
Netball uniform: Royal blue netball dress with white side panels where ‘Marrang’ is written in pink. Phoebe likes to wear her long hair in a plait so that it doesn’t whip around in the wind and distract her when she plays.
Favourite netball positions: Goal Shooter, Goal Attack
Netball idol: Silver Ferns and Northern Mystics player Maria Tutaia
Best netball moment: Captaining the Gems and throwing a crucial pass which led to the winning goal in the final seconds of their match against the tough Thomson netball team.
Netball ambition: To become a professional netballer and shoot at 100% accuracy for a whole season.
Netball Drills
Balance Practice
1. Gather a set of cones, or any kind of marker.
2. Arrange them on the ground in a straight line so that they are 30 centimetres apart.
3. Start at one end of the line. Make your way to the other end by darting in a zigzag motion around each cone.
4. When you get to the end of the line, do the same on the way back.
HOT TIP
Plant your outside foot on the ground as you dodge. It will keep you balanced.
Be a Stunning Shooter
1. Grab a netball.
2. Stand in front of the goal post and shoot for a goal.
3. If you get the ball through the ring, take one step backwards to increase the challenge, and try shooting again.
4. If you miss, take one step forward so it will be a little easier, and try shooting again.
5. You can increase the challenge even more by stepping backwards and to the side when you get the ball through the ring.
HOT TIP
Count how many goals you get. Keep trying to beat your own score.
Be a Smart Dodger: Leading Out
1. You’ll need three people for this drill, as well as a netball.
2. Choose a partner and decide who will be the attacker and who will be the defender. The third person will be holding the ball, ready to pass to the attacker.
3. Draw a line on the ground with some chalk or, if you’re at the netball courts, pick one of the transverse lines.
4. The attacker and the defender stand behind the line. The person holding the ball stands in front of the line.
5. When everyone is ready, the person holding the ball calls out for the attacker to run forward. The attacker runs out as fast as they can (this is called ‘leading out’), running out wide to the side (either left or right).
6. The attacker quickly changes direction, and runs the other way to take the pass.
7. While the attacker is running, the defender tries to stop the attacker from getting the ball.
8. Swap roles so all three of you can have a go at attacking, defending and passing the ball.
HOT TIP
Change direction really quickly so your defender can’t keep up with you!
Netball Positions
Missed out on Maddy’s story, the first book in the Netball Gems series?
Read on for an exciting extract of Hooked on Netball
Maddy’s heart began to pound as she looked up to scan the carpark. She felt her thick brown ponytail swing as she moved her head.
Where is Prani?
Prani was Maddy’s best friend and she’d said she would be at training. But training was about to start and Prani wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Maddy began chewing on her bottom lip and fiddling with the soft frayed hem of her navy sports shorts.
Come on, Prani! Where are you? I’m going to be the only one without a partner!
‘Passing drills! Let’s get started!’ said Janet, the coach, as she walked briskly up and down between the pairs of girls like a sergeant major. She was tall and wore her long dark curly hair in a messy bun.
The rest of the team began to spread out on the court and prepared to throw chest passes, but Maddy remained where she stood, clutching a ball against her stomach.
Maybe one of the others will pair with me? thought Maddy.
She looked hopefully to her friends from school, Lily and Sienna, but they had already teamed up and made a pair. Maddy eyed the other girls in her team. Training had only begun a few weeks ago so she didn’t really know them very well yet. Phoebe always seemed distracted and Maddy had no idea what she was like. Charlotte seemed quiet. Isabella seemed easygoing. Jade seemed bossy and sometimes just not very nice. In the first training session she’d made some comment about Prani being Indian, which Maddy didn’t get. What did it matter?
Now what? Maybe I should go and ask to be a third person for the passing drills … But I don’t want to be annoying …
Maddy’s mind raced.
What if the coach takes pity on me, the leftover girl, and asks me to do the passes with her? That would be the worst … Come on, Prani!
The seconds stretched on and for a moment, Maddy wondered why she’d even joined the Marrang Netball Club Under 13s team. Although they were officially known by their club name at games, it had been Maddy’s idea to choose a special name for their team. They had chosen the Gems after the Australian team, the Diamonds.
Janet aimed a questioning look at Maddy but just as she opened her mouth to speak, a car with a broken muffler weaved noisily along the track between the gum trees, towards the carpark.
Prani leapt from the car and ran towards the courts, waving madly at Maddy. Her thick black braid bounced, and her earrings glittered in the late-afternoon sun.
‘Sorry I’m late –’ she began.
‘Quick!’ interrupted Maddy. ‘We have to start or we’ll miss practising chest passes!’
They found space on the court and stood about two metres apart. As they began their chest passes, they heard the coach’s clear voice.
‘Now remember, everyone,’ Janet called, ‘when you catch a chest pass, you grab it with both hands, one on either side of the ball. I want you to grab it strongly and hold tight, like a two-year-old who grabs and says “Mine!”.’
Instantly, four pairs of girls began imitating a two-year-old with every catch. ‘Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!’
Maddy realised that the idea had worked. She was more conscious of pulling the ball strongly and decisively towards her each time she caught it.
Relaxed now that Prani was here, Maddy began to enjoy training. They moved from chest passes to bounce passes. It reminded her of the NetSetGO training she’d done when she was younger. NetSetGO was how she’d learnt the basic skills and rules of netball.
The trick to these kind of passes was to figure out where the ball needed to bounce so that it could be neatly caught by your partner, in front of her body. You also had to work out how much force to put behind your pass. If the pass was too strong, it would bounce too high. If it was too soft, it would bounce too low, making it difficult to catch.
Prani used the right amount of force but her aim wasn’t that great because she was distracted, telling Maddy all about why she was late. Maddy lunged sideways to catch Prani’s crooked pass.
‘So anyway,’ Prani continued, ‘Nani wanted to star
t teaching me how to cook, but Mum said she had to wait until after netball training. They talked on and on and on and on about it – and that’s why I’m late!’
Maddy laughed. Prani often talked about her funny grandma, who she called ‘Nani’.
The team shifted to practising lob passes. Maddy stepped forward on her left foot and carefully lobbed the ball just high enough for Prani to do a standing leap and stretch her arms high to catch the pass. Maddy’s quick, sharp passes contrasted with Prani’s loose, fluid movements. Maddy relished the feel of the new netball in her hands. Now she’d be ready for any type of pass in Saturday’s game!
OUT NOW
Books 3 and 4 available in November
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Version 1.0
CHASE YOUR GOAL
9780857987679
First published by Random House Australia in 2015
Copyright © Random House Australia, 2015
The moral right of the authors and illustrator has been asserted.
A Random House Australia book
Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060
www.randomhouse.com.au
Random House Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com/offices.
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Creator: Gibbs, Lisa, author
Title: Chase your goal / Lisa Gibbs, Bernadette Hellard; illustrator Cat MacInnes
ISBN: 9780857987679 (ebook)
Series: Netball gems; 2
Subjects: Netball – Juvenile fiction
Basketball – Shooting – Juvenile fiction
Fathers and daughters – Social aspects – Juvenile fiction
Other Creators/Contributors: Hellard, Bernadette, author; MacInnes, Cat, illustrator
Dewey Number: A823.4
Cover illustration by Cat MacInnes
Cover design by Kirby Armstrong
Chase Your Goal Page 6
