Bullants Netball

Hi Bullants families.

The last month or so has been very strange, with schooling and working from home, and the cancellation of many activities including netball. Your committee had a meeting this evening (on-line for social distancing purposes) to discuss where we are at with the 2020 winter season. 

Winter Competition

Netball ACT recently advised that all local competition is suspended until at least 1 July. This will remain under review, and we will let you know as soon as we have any further information. In the meantime we will be communicating with SCNA to find out the likely way forward. Again, once we know something we will share it with you.

Registration Fees

We are sure you are wondering what will happen with the registration payments you made to participate in this winter season. Until a decision is made about whether there will be any netball competition this winter, Netball ACT (and SCNA) are reserving decision about refunds. Given that more than 90% of your registration fee is paid to Netball ACT and SCNA, we are not in a position to make decisions about refunds at this stage either. This is not ideal, but an unfortunate result of the circumstances we find ourselves in.

What Now?

No doubt you are missing netball as much as we are, and it will be important for you to be ready to start the season if/when we get the all clear. With this in mind, your committee and coaches will be communicating with you over the next weeks, providing ideas about broadening/maintaining your netball knowledge, skills and fitness.

Resources/Links

Netball Australia has teamed with NetFit to provide on-line clinics for players. The link for that is here.  The clinics are full-day sessions, but if you want just an individual exercise/skills session then you can access those via the facebook page here. We also recommend that players warm up using the knee program designed by Netball Australia to prevent knee injury here.

Borrow a Ball

Not everyone will have a netball to practise with. If there is interest we will arrange to provide practise balls for you to borrow until we are able to start training again as a club. If you are interested in borrowing a ball please email us by Monday 27 April (likely pick up will be Wednesday 29 April).

Netball Knowledge

This is an opportune time to broaden our understanding of the rules of netball. Obviously umpires need to know the rules, but so do players and coaches. In this message we will cover Bernadette’s bugbear…. players being called for an incorrect throw in. Often the umpire will call this a “line infringement”. This is something which is completely within the control of the player, so we’d like to think that no Bullants player would ever lose the ball for this infringement. So, what is the rule?

Rule 8.4 covers the requirements for a throw in. The basic elements of the rule are that the player taking the throw in must:
1. stand outside the court with at least one foot within 15 cm of the line at the point indicated by the umpire (this is considered the landing foot);
2. pass the ball within 3 seconds of taking up this position;
3. ensure all players are on court before taking the throw in;
4. not enter the court until the ball has been released;
5. not step behind any offside area while holding the ball;
6. observe all other rules for playing the ball, passing distances and footwork.

This all sounds like a lot to consider for taking one pass, but there is a simple way to ensure that a player satisfies this rule. Following is a 2-step process for the player taking the throw in:

1. Before approaching the line, have good control of the ball in both hands and make sure all players (of both teams) are on court and that your team is ready.

2. If you are right-handed:

• plant your left foot within 15 cm of the line and anchor it there. From that moment you have 3 seconds to pass the ball.
• Have your body weight on your right foot, which will be behind your left foot. As you move to pass the ball, transfer your body weight forward from your right foot to your left foot, without lifting your left foot.

If you are left-handed:

• plant your right foot within 15 cm of the line and anchor it there. From that moment you have 3 seconds to pass the ball.
• Have your body weight on your left foot, which will be behind your right foot. As you move to pass the ball, transfer your body weight forward from your left foot to your right foot, without lifting your right foot.

Simple!!

We hope everyone is staying safe and well. Remember…. stay 1.5m away from each other and wash your hands!