In answer to your questions...

Ok, a few of you (well almost all of you at some stage) have asked me "what is netball"

So, I thought I'd give you all a lesson so you know what it is that we (that is Lightening and I) are obsessed about.

Netball came about in the early 1800's when women weren't able to play basketball because their clothing was too restrictive and it just wasn't considered very ladylike. The rules of basketball were modified to make it a non contact sport, where you don't run with the ball, and you must be three feet from your opponent to defend when they are passing the ball. Basically they just made basketball more ladylike, although the way modern netball is played it is anything but ladylike, and as the years go by more and more contact is allowed so long as it is fair contest (which means you are giving as much as you are getting!)

The ball we use is exactly the same as a soccer ball, and we shoot goals through a ring the same shape as a basketball ring, only it doesn't have a backboard.

Here are a few pictures of Steph playing last year to give you a bit of an idea.


In this photo Steph is catching the ball. You can see she has landed on her left foot, now she has to stop and keep that left foot touching the ground, or "grounded" as we call it in netball. She is able to step forward on her right foot and lift the grounded foot off the ground, but she can't put it down again before releasing the ball....clear as mud?This is a good photo to show you what I mean by defending the player with the ball while three feet away. Steph has just passed the ball to her team mate, her opponent is three feet away defending her.

So, there you go, a bit of a netball lesson for all of you. This week my team (which includes Steph) plays a preliminary final that if we win takes us to the grand final. If we lose our season is over until next year. Steph has to play against her cousin Renee who is the same age as her so it's a bit of a shame that one of them has to lose.

Here are our gorgeous girls in the positions they will play against each other tomorrow. This was taken a month or so ago at a previous game. C stands for centre by the way!

Lord, I pray that all goes well tomorrow, that everyone does their best and that we play as a team. I pray that the older members of the team and the younger ones can learn to get along a little better!