Netball, Wing Defence, and a Bit of Time to Actually Watch

Imaan played her second netball match of the year, and this time, as a single mom watching kids’ sport whenever I actually can, I managed to attend. It’s one of the strange upsides of everything that’s happened since I lost my job: I actually have the time to show up for things like this now, which isn’t something I could always say when I was working. The first one was held in Fish Hoek, and if you know me, you know I am not a fan of driving in and out of there during peak traffic, so that one got a miss. This match was at her school, though, so it was a lot easier to get to.

They played against Wynberg Girls Primary this time, and I have to say, those girls are good. It’s like they float on their feet—clearly great coaching. Imaan played Wing Defence, the same position I played back in primary school, except for me it was the most boring position on the court; I literally just stood around while all the action happened around the net. When I said this to Imaan, she looked at me like I was mad and said, “No, Mommy, you’re supposed to be defending your opponent, running up and down the court, making sure she doesn’t get the ball.” Ah. Maybe I just played netball wrong. Maybe we all did; no wonder we only won one match that entire year I was in grade 7, against Zonnebloem Girls, back in 1997. Gosh, I’m old.

None of that mattered, though, because my daughter played great and they had a proper match of it; Bergvliet only lost by one point, which is pretty impressive for the B team.

This is her last year at primary school, so I don’t think she’ll be playing any more matches for the rest of the year. She’s been honest that she doesn’t love netball so much, as she signed up because her mother told her to, ha, but I think she actually enjoyed the experience. I wonder if she’ll carry it on into high school. We’ll just have to see what the future holds.

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