10 reasons netballers excel at life

NETBALL is a game of grit, stamina, tenacity and pure determination. It’s not a sport for girls, really it’s a sport for legends.

OPINION

NETBALL. It’s a game of grit, stamina, tenacity and pure determination. It’s not a sport for girls, really it’s a sport for queens.

The scungies, the pleated skirts, the red frogs from the canteen, the cold, rainy Saturday mornings out on the court, the strapped knees and ankles and the bibs that smell like old sweat. It all makes the player.

With an estimated one million netty players nationwide, it’s no surprise that netball is the most popular women’s sport in Australia.

And it’s built a network of strong, fierce, fit women that you don’t want to mess with.

Here are ten reasons why netballers excel at life:

1. THEY’RE TOUGH AS NAILS

Every netty lover knows the irony of netball being a “non-contact sport”. It’s our paradise and it’s a war zone. The asphalt scrapes up your arms, the fingernail marks from the girl who dodged the nail-checkers before the match. The busted knees, the strapped ankles, the broken wrists, the dislocated fingers, the torn tendons, strained ligaments and the elbows to the face.

It’s all worth it. We suck it up, we recover, we play on.

2. THEY KNOW HOW TO MAKE QUICK DECISIONS

Decisions made in three seconds, over and over and over again. It’s the entire game. You’ve got three seconds to scan, observe, calculate, make your pass and make it count. Three, two, one. Whistle. Held.

3. THEY KNOW HOW TO READ PEOPLE

Is there any better feeling than that of the perfect intercept? Pre-empting the next play with a sneaky side eye and seeing the look of joy on your teammates’ faces (and the look of surprise on your opponent’s) when you’ve leapt out of nowhere, snatched the ball and sent it back down the right end of the court.

Netballers are always watching and know your next move without you even knowing it.

4. THEY NEVER, EVER, EVER GIVE UP

Especially when you’re up against the “bitchy team” that flogged you in round two in the finals. Netty lovers know you can always beat the team on the return match.

5. THEY SUPPORT THOSE AROUND THEM

“Here if you need” — the universal netballing call of mateship. The hand that reaches out from nowhere to pull you back up when you fall (and pull your pleated skirt back over your bum). The girl who remembered to bring the nail clippers, the one who knows how to do the perfect French braid. There’s no “I” in netball.

6. THEY CAN HANDLE PRESSURE

The pressure of a toss up at a crucial point in the game, of being one player down and playing in the pouring rain, in the middle of winter in a tiny skirt. The pressure of feeling like the coolest girl in the world the first time your boyfriend comes to watch you play. Netballers know pressure and they thrive on it.

7. THEY’RE ADAPTABLE

Your GK has done her ACL, WD is stepping up. you’re being pulled out of GD to cover WD because defence is key. While you might be a gun at your own role, there will always come a day when you need to adapt. Netballers are versatile and know they might need to step up and switch bibs at any moment. They practice their goal shooting even when they’re a goal defence.

8. THEY KNOW THEIR BOUNDARIES

Your entire world exists within your third/s of the court for that full 60 minutes. You know not to step over the line (or step at all when you’ve got the ball). You know where you stand and you wait, you watch, you act, you don’t go over a third. And you definitely don’t go within three feet.

9. THEY KNOW WHEN TO RALLY

Netballers always know when to bring it. Down at halftime? There’s always the third quarter where everything can change. It ain’t over yet. A netballer knows when it’s time to bring their A-game.

10. THEY KNOW HOW TO KEEP THEIR EMOTIONS IN CHECK

Every player knows the umpire will ignore you if you sook or cry foul, and probably advance the penalty if you give lip on a call you disagree with. As for diving and faking injury on the ground for a penalty? We’ll leave that to the men playing soccer.

The struggles, the triumphs, the highs, the lows, the injuries, the playing with your skirt back to front. Tall or short, centre or shooter, every netballer knows the game makes the woman and she wouldn’t give up her netball days for the world.

Do you know a netballer who excels at life?