Is it too easy to score in netball?
Picture courtesy of Lochnagarth
This post was going to be about the recent Co-Operative World Netball Series tournament but after reading some rather ill-advised comments about netball we felt the need to post a response. A keen-eyed netball fan spotted the article in last Friday’s edition of the London Evening Standard, written by respected journalist and BBC TV presenter, John Inverdale. The online version can be found here, just after the piece about Wasps Rugby Club.
Credit where credit’s due; Mr Inverdale is at least writing about netball, and in an established newspaper. However, his comments have landed him in hot water with netball fans around the globe. Judging by his comments, he’s never actually played netball before and he’s all but branded it as being dull. Apparently, it just too easy to score in netball and this makes the game ‘repetitious and unfulfilling’. These comments followed an afternoon spent watching the top 6 teams in the world play a drastically modified version of the game at the World Netball Series in Manchester.
He had the privilege of watching some of the best players in the world. They make it look easy to score but it’s not. Ask any netball player. Try scoring a goal when you’ve got the likes of England’s Geva Mentor or Sonia Mkoloma or Australia’s Susan Fuhrmann towering over you, even if you are as tall as NZ’s Irene van Dyk or Jamaica’s Romelda Aiken. Watching the ball go through the net when your team scores is fantastic especially as you know how difficult it can be in a tight game just to get the ball into the circle.
So, John, you should at least try the game before you dismiss it. We suggest you call up England Netball or one of the UK’s 9 Superleague teams (or even your local netball club) and ask to join in one of their training sessions and play a practice match and see how you get on…THEN you can talk about how easy it is to score a goal. We recommend that you take your own kit in case they don’t have a dress to fit you.
Oh, and don’t forget to bring a BBC TV camera crew with you as we’d all love to see you play!
We have read some lively comments on our Facebook page as to the value of Mr Inverdale’s opinions, but what do you think? Please leave a comment on this blog or on Facebook on how we can change such lazy perceptions of our great game.
Themocracy
Ah, the land of the free!
You have the right to free speech as long as you speak English.
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best regards, Greg
We had some rugby guys come along to play mixed netball and none of them could shoot even right under the post with no defender. Proves what a specific skill shooting in netball is, and John should definitely try it before he says it’s too easy.
Even if players were allowed to shoot from anywhere, as John suggests in his article, they wouldn’t actually do it because it would be a gamble, and shooters want to give themselves the best possible opportunity to score and not lose the ball to the other team – this skill and tactics is what makes netball an interesting game.
For example, I think cricket is a boring game, but I know it is actually full of skill and tactics and I’m sure if I understood it better then it would be intriguing to watch. I do agree that some sports are more visually exciting than others for someone with no knowledge of them to watch, but trying not to be biased, I do think that netball is more visually exciting than cricket and there is no reason why netball can’t be just as big.