Photo courtesy of ChuckAitch on Flickr.com
Coaching netball can be immensely rewarding for many reasons. You are helping players to reach their full potential, whether you coach elite players or primary school kids, and at the same time giving something back to netball. Also, if your playing career has taken a back seat you still get to stay involved with the sport you love.
Coaching requires plenty of enthusiasm and dedication but you also need to be organised, willing to keep learning and to be a good communicator so it’s not going to appeal to everyone. This week, we feature an exclusive interview with one such individual who found coaching a natural fit. Emma Blackmore is the Regional Talent Coach for England Netball’s London & South East region. Her role includes mentoring other coaches and further developing the skills of the region’s most talented athletes. Continue reading 'Elite netball coach gives insight into mentoring talented athletes'»
Samoa sub with WD paddle. Photo courtesy of Steve from www.playnetball.com
The inaugural World Netball Series featured a modified version of netball, or Fast Net as IFNA calls it. There are hopes that this version of netball will help the bid for netball to be included in the Olympics, although it won’t make the cut for 2012.
IFNA promised a ‘fast, ferocious and vibrant competition’ and it probably delivered on that score, but isn’t netball already fast and dynamic? For all its innovations, can the Fast Net style of netball compete with the thrilling encounters provided by international tests, the ANZ Championships or the Co-operative Superleague? There were many drastic rule changes, but will any of them be adopted into the traditional form of netball? Some of the main differences between both forms of the game were:
- shorter quarters – instead of the usual 15 minutes, quarters were only 6 minutes long so each team had to play their best netball from the outset, conditions similar to playing in a regular 0ne-day tournament. This can lead to rather frantic, error-strewn play as teams try to quickly find their rhythm. However, a regular netball match is only one hour long so is there any real need to shorten the game?
- double points for shots scored from outside the circle – this change certainly got the crowd excited as every time anyone got the ball on the circle edge, whether they were a shooter or not, the crowd was shouting “shoot, shoot!” A fun concept but would it be taking netball back too close to its basketball roots?
- Power Play quarter – the idea of doubling any points scored in this quarter also livened up the game but if both team use this option at the same time, the potential bonuses for either team could be negated.
- rolling subs – this rule change will probably find its way into the regular form of netball, at least at the top levels. Some elite coaches already feel the current rules on substitutions are too restrictive. Continue reading 'World Netball Series: Did it deliver the “wow” factor?'»
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