Carnival Blog (from 2nd April)
Charlotte and I are fortunate to share our very first representative netball carnival. Penrith Netball association is the second carnival for representative teams for the netball season. Our representative team is Bankstown City Netball association’s 13’s. Our story of how we came to be selected to play for another association is a good one. We are both Joey’s girls who wanted a chance to play representative netball and experience the NSW State Age championships. If your dream is to do something similar, then I would recommend considering trialling for another netball association’s representative team.
The more that you experience representative netball trials, the more you learn about how to perform under pressure and get a better idea about what the selectors are looking for.In any trial it’s you really need to showcase your strengths and skills. it’s important to take a chance and always have a go! Be brave and chase your netball dreams!
Our first carnival was an experience that didn’t disappoint! We were awake by 5am and out the door by 5.30. It’s was a very long day, but one I will always remember!
Our team wasn’t able to train altogether before our first carnival due to the lateness of the final selection. Believe me when I say that it was not always great netball to watch, but each game played, showed our coach what we could do in a real game situation.
Carnivals are used by associations to give the team some valuable game experience playing against other representative teams from across Nsw and Canberra. Our team used the carnival to begin forming some good combinations and begin to bond as team mates. It is competitive netball but during breaks in, we laugh, we sing, we eat and get to know each other a little more. We finished up by 4.00pm. We drew 1 game and won 6! We won our draw on the day, which was a surprise given it was our first time playing together. Our coach make us celebrate the end of a carnival by having an ice bath! Each girl brings a bag of ice to the carnival and each bag then goes into a large plastic bin that we immerse our selves in inside a large plastic garbage bag for 2 minutes. ( it’s such a weird feeling….very cold then eventually it feels like your burning in an oven). We do this to reduce swelling or try to aid recovery for our muscles and joint after a long day of play. So one carnival down four more to go before we go to the NSW State age championships in July this year! I’m learning so much already through the extra training we receive and bring all my toolkit of new and improved skills and tactics to my Joey’s Team!
I do want to thank my Joey’s family for being so encouraging of me during my representative netball journey – I received such lovely emails and messages of support along the way! My representative journey is something that I will continue to share with my Joey’s teammates, friends and family. To my team mate Charlotte, I can’t imagine a better person to share this journey with. It is a privilege to play alongside you at Joey’s and in our Bankstown 13’s rep team!
Tess
