Yr 5 Netball vs SCPS
We arrived at Streatham and Clapham Prep, with our teams divided into three teams, Red, Yellow and Pink. Chris was given the Pinks (to her delight, as they were playing in the Sports Hall..!) Great to have three netball coaches, who can all focus on an individual team, as well as supporters who helped transport and support on the sidelines- I think it’s fair to say we all had a great afternoon of netball!
May I just add how proud I was of all of the players today, we took 22 girls, some have played a lot of netball, and some are relatively new to the game, but ALL of them gave 100% today. My opening line to the pink team, was that we have 9 players, so I would be looking for those girls who didn’t put as much effort in as others to be the ones on rotation (turns out, when you give them a target like that, they all play exceptionally well), so we just rotated fairly, to give everyone time on the side learning how to score and time a quarter!
What was nice about that was that I had the chance to explain to those players what was working, and what wasn’t on court (there was plenty from Honeywell that was working well, and slightly more from Streatham that wasn't) so that they could learn at the same time.
Pink Team Streatham had given us two teams to play against, so we rotated 8 minutes for team 1, then 8 minutes for team 2, playing a total of 16 minutes against each team.
Honeywell commanded the court, we'd warmed up focusing on 4 aspects: 1. Turning towards the goal post (when we had possession) 2. Running (Usain Bolt style, NOT like Crabs) to find that elusive space 3. Putting both hands up to defend when our opponent had the ball 4. Sticking tight to our player using our body to defend when they were running for the ball
All 4 aspects were delivered by everyone - excellent impact, and a deserved winning scoreline: 4-1 vs the Red Team and 3-0 vs the Green Team.
We like an even game, so whilst we started in our more favoured positions, towards the second half of each game, I decided it would be fairer for our opponents, and also a great learning opportunity for our players, to play in completely different positions. This is where I love coaching, because even out of position, Honeywell Netballers recalled everything that was asked of them, and played their hearts out.
Diana and Victoria had a dynamic partnership at WA & Centre, with safe, accurate passes moving to each other, and then down to Bella B and Esme who started as shooters, both moving well around the circle, and our first quarter scored 3 goals.
Our defenders didn't see the ball much, allowing Streatham to score just once, with Emma sticking close to her player. Tabi had a turn at Centre - and used all of her knowledge to drive the ball down the court - realising it's not as easy as it looks, but persevering to deliver continued possession. Jess worked hard at Shooter, and in the centre court, moving away from her player to pass the ball to our attacking goal. Liberty started as WD, and played the best netball I've seen her play - real confident movement into space, regularly asking for the ball, maintaining possession, and passing it down to our attacking end.
Ada, well, she started in her favoured defence position, and defended *every* ball that her shooter tried to pass, we then thought we'd pop her in the shooter bib, and goodness, after missing a couple to start with, I reminded her of the shooting technique, and just as her mother arrived, Ada shot her first goal (perfect timing!) and not content with just 1, she landed a second shortly afterwards...!
Ada & Esme were voted as Players of the Match by Streatham, I suspect in recognition of their shooting - very well deserved.
Lovely confidence, keep playing girls, your improvement today was exceptional!
Yellow team – playing outside!
The Yellows – who had a couple of girls who haven’t played many fixtures – were so excited to play today! They needed a ‘settling’ 1st game to get used to each other and their opponents. Streatham took full advantage of this with most of the game being played in their half with Ruby and Darcy working hard to defend the goal. At times the ball made its way towards our shooters but small mistakes made it end up back in their possession enabling them to score 2 good goals. In the last few minutes the girls started getting into a flow and the ball came down to our end of the court where we managed to get a ball into the net. 2-1 win to Streatham.
Before the next game the girls and I discussed what we felt had lost us the game we all agreed that the girls needed to get in front of the defenders to secure the ball. We also talked about making their passes clean (no lobbing 😉) not to mention making sure that we were marking our partners at all times. The second game was a completely different animal. Isabelle came into her stride in Centre with great centre passes out to Emilie in WA & Ella WD was also on hand in the centre to drive the ball down to our goal circle. Ruby GD also worked hard to get free and produced some great catches & passes. There was some great work between the shooters, C and WA & the ball spent all of its time down in our goal third where Milla scored four goals and Saf scored two! 6-0 win to Honeywell.
The next game was pretty much the same with Honeywell keeping possession and taking control with some amazing ‘set moves’ (Isabelle to Emilie or Ella to Milla or Saf.) it really was so lovely to see! Saw really switched it up with some beautiful moves around the goal circle helping Milla who scored 2 goals. 2-0 win to Honeywell.
The final game was more of the same. This time Darcy – GD, came into the centre third more too and helped pass the ball down, the set moves continued with Isabelle always finding space, Emilie and Ella coming forward to help get the ball towards our goal and then the two shooters working so well together with fast passing and a set of incredible goals. Milla scored 5 and Saf scored 1. 6-0 win to Honeywell.
I was so proud of them today. Despite being cold and tired, they still wanted to play a last little extra time game – which of course they won 4-0! Ruby stepped into GS and scored 2 of them! Susie
Red Team Vs Blues 0-0
When we learned we were going to play two different teams in rotation, it was too late to change the line-up and bring other players out of other teams. Ideally, we could have done with a sub on both the Red and Yellow teams, but we didn’t know this before arriving. Playing six ‘quarters’ against two different teams non-stop was a LOT of netball for our girls. To be fair, the fitness levels of these youngsters was impressive – not sure that I could manage 42 minutes of netball non-stop… light jogging maybe, but not intensive netball!
The Reds first met a VERY feisty S&C team, with every player going aggressively for every ball. This, coupled with a different bounce of the ball on a different surface, seemed to take the Reds by surprise, and the first eight minutes saw a lot of our balls intercepted or ‘grabbed’ out of our reaching hands. Thankfully, the Red team equally made a number of interceptions as all these girls know how to defend well, and the ball turned over a large number of times – going end, to end, to end… with no score on the board for either team! Particularly, in the opposition goal circle, Delisa and Anneli had to work hard to get deflection after deflection, as the S&C shooters did not seem to be on target. Unsurprisingly, the girls came off court saying ‘We’re losing!'
So, I asked for three deep breaths… then we talked about what was going well and what wasn’t going so well. I asked the girls to stop waiting with open hands for passes to come to them, and to grab every ball and ‘shield' it into their chest. We have done this a few times in training, but playing teams like today always gives us new visions of what to focus on next… As the match wore on, I was pleased to see that ALL these girls were using their body to shield away from their defenders as they took a pass and the number of interceptions/deflections that the S&C teams managed definitely lessened.
Vs Yellows 1-0
A new team, so we changed into new positions to reinvent our own team… moving Safiain to shoot with Ella, we put Elana into WA, and Bene into Centre, Willa into WD. We also had Anneli and Delisa change positions and then maintained these rotations each quarter as we rotated through playing the two different teams. This Yellow S&C team, though a little less feisty for every ball, were also well schooled and knew where they wanted to drive the ball to. But the increase in feistiness of our Red team shone through, particularly in the centre third where Willa and Bene were fighting for every ball. The team also looked a lot steadier in their drive down to their goal end. Safia and Ella worked to get around their defenders, but the ball wasn’t going in every time for them in this quarter, however a 1-0 scorelinewas enough to secure a win and to lift our spirits after the first hard slog.
Vs Blues 0-5
Changing back into their first positions, the Reds met the Blue S&C team who had enjoyed a rest and our Reds maintained a sense of fire for the ball – and to be fair, did a lot of things right – with a lot of interceptions, especially though the mid-court with Bene, Willa and Safiaworking to grab the ball away from their opposition. Willa seemed to be trialling a ‘holding just slightly off her opponent in order to gain an interception', which paid off a number of times, and could possibly be the reason why she was awarded Player of the Match by both S&C teams. Bene was taking the ball into her body away from her defender in text-book moves I ask of my U14s… Seeing players able to reinvent their own game play like this at this age – as all these girls did as the match wore on and we witnessed them all shielding the ball as requested – is so refreshing, and the reasons we, as coaches, love to give them as much match play as possible.
However, despite the ball going end to end, we still had some loose passes intercepted and the S&C defenders were making it difficult for our shooters – yet in the other goal end, their shooters seemed to have found their form. A few quick-fire goals and they had a decent lead. Our girls didn’t give up however, and it was the continued concentration and effort that they gave all day that really impressed me!
The Reds first met a VERY feisty S&C team, with every player going aggressively for every ball. This, coupled with a different bounce of the ball on a different surface, seemed to take the Reds by surprise, and the first eight minutes saw a lot of our balls intercepted or ‘grabbed’ out of our reaching hands. Thankfully, the Red team equally made a number of interceptions as all these girls know how to defend well, and the ball turned over a large number of times – going end, to end, to end… with no score on the board for either team! Particularly, in the opposition goal circle, Delisa and Anneli had to work hard to get deflection after deflection, as the S&C shooters did not seem to be on target. Unsurprisingly, the girls came off court saying ‘We’re losing!'
So, I asked for three deep breaths… then we talked about what was going well and what wasn’t going so well. I asked the girls to stop waiting with open hands for passes to come to them, and to grab every ball and ‘shield' it into their chest. We have done this a few times in training, but playing teams like today always gives us new visions of what to focus on next… As the match wore on, I was pleased to see that ALL these girls were using their body to shield away from their defenders as they took a pass and the number of interceptions/deflections that the S&C teams managed definitely lessened.
Vs Yellows 1-0
A new team, so we changed into new positions to reinvent our own team… moving Safiain to shoot with Ella, we put Elana into WA, and Bene into Centre, Willa into WD. We also had Anneli and Delisa change positions and then maintained these rotations each quarter as we rotated through playing the two different teams. This Yellow S&C team, though a little less feisty for every ball, were also well schooled and knew where they wanted to drive the ball to. But the increase in feistiness of our Red team shone through, particularly in the centre third where Willa and Bene were fighting for every ball. The team also looked a lot steadier in their drive down to their goal end. Sofia and Ella worked to get around their defenders, but the ball wasn’t going in every time for them in this quarter, however a 1-0 scoreline was enough to secure a win and to lift our spirits after the first hard slog.
Vs Blues 0-5
Changing back into their first positions, the Reds met the Blue S&C team who had enjoyed a rest and our Reds maintained a sense of fire for the ball – and to be fair, did a lot of things right – with a lot of interceptions, especially though the mid-court with Bene, Willa and Safia working to grab the ball away from their opposition. Willa seemed to be trialling a ‘holding just slightly off her opponent in order to gain an interception', which paid off a number of times, and could possibly be the reason why she was awarded Player of the Match by both S&C teams. Bene was taking the ball into her body away from her defender in text-book moves I ask of my U14s… Seeing players able to reinvent their own game play like this at this age – as all these girls did as the match wore on and we witnessed them all shielding the ball as requested – is so refreshing, and the reasons we, as coaches, love to give them as much match play as possible.
However, despite the ball going end to end, we still had some loose passes intercepted and the S&C defenders were making it difficult for our shooters – yet in the other goal end, their shooters seemed to have found their form. A few quick-fire goals and they had a decent lead. Our girls didn’t give up however, and it was the continued concentration and effort that they gave all day that really impressed me!
Vs Yellows 2-0
Meeting the Yellow team again, the girls didn’t show any fatigue. They seemed to have an even further renewed fight for the ball and we took control of this quarter early on. Bene was on fire in the Centre, fighting for every ball, pulling balls out of the air, and maintaining steady passes to drive down to our goal end. Sofia and Ella worked to get into space and a quick first goal from Ella was followed by one from Safia. Delisa and Annelistopped the Yellow team from scoring as they stopped the ball going into the coaching circle time and time again!
Vs Blues1-1
By now, despite not having rested, the Red team had already improved their game as mentioned, so meeting with the Blue team for another 5-minute quarter, they looked like a different team to the last two times they had met. They were much more in control and their flow of the game was more decisive. The team worked to drive down to the goal circle where Ella had worked out what moves worked for her to gain space near the goal post, and managing the first goal of the quarter was a lovely settler. It was met by a goal from the opposition, but drawing this game 1-1 was heartening.
Vs Yellows 2-0
Asking for five more minutes of continued concentration after a long session of match play, I was amazed by what these girls delivered. They maintained consistency in their fight for the ball, worked to hold their drives into space and managed to bring the ball down to their goal end. With Ella and Safiaorking new moves to gain possession of the ball, we then had a quick first goal from Ella followed by another couple from Safia, and our defenders kept the Yellow team from scoring once more.
Playing to this standard really stretched our girls today, and it is by stretching them in this manner that we notice different points to train towards. Unfortunately, on days with feisty match play like today, the girls don’t always notice for themselves ‘what they are doing right’ and I will be sure to point this out to them next week at training. Because there was a whole lot of things they did really well… Sarah.
