by Lisa Gibbs
They passed the black and white Silver Ferns stall but didn’t stop. Instead, they headed straight for the Diamonds’ merchandise stand and paused, dazzled, before all the green and gold. There were sports tops, scarves, caps and key rings on display.
‘So, who’s your favourite player?’ Prani asked Maddy, as they waited in line to buy a program.
‘Madison Browne,’ Maddy responded.
‘Yeah right, Maddy, you wish,’ said Prani.
‘No, really, it’s true!’ Maddy insisted. ‘One of the Diamonds players has the same name as me, only now she’s married so her last name is Robinson.’
‘Yep, she’s right,’ agreed the girl behind the counter.
‘Really?!’ Prani was impressed. ‘Wow, Maddy, you’ll have to get her autograph after the game.’
They turned around from the counter and began to flick through the program they’d bought, bumping into people as Maddy’s mum steered them towards the entrance closest to their seats. When they emerged through the passageway, Maddy gasped at the vastness of the internal arena. Rows of seats were banked up high on each side of the court. There were two digital scoreboards and screens hanging from the massive ceiling. Camera crews and commentators were positioned courtside, and everything gleamed in the bright lights reflecting off the golden polished boards of the court. The players of both teams were already doing warm-up drills on the court.
‘Prani, is Madison Robinson in the program?’
‘Yeah … It says here that she normally plays Centre or Wing Attack and she is 168 centimetres tall,’ said Prani. This didn’t really help them find Madi, though, because none of the players had their bibs on yet, so Prani read on. ‘Hey! She spells her name M-a-d-i, not M-a-d-d-y like you.’
Maddy screwed up her nose. ‘Really?’ She didn’t pay much attention, though, because the players had returned to their team benches and begun to put on their position bibs. Maybe now she’d spot Madi! The commentator started to make the announcements and moments later each of the players was introduced as she ran onto the court.
‘… And playing Wing Attack for Australia, Madi Robinson!’
Chapter Nineteen
Maddy watched as Madi Robinson ran onto the court. She looked strong and athletic. Her brown hair was in a high ponytail, just like how Maddy wore her hair when she played netball. Watching her, Maddy felt strangely proud, as if they were connected in some way.
From the first whistle of the game, Maddy was completely absorbed. She loved the way the crowd fell silent when the goalers stopped to shoot, and then roared every time their team scored a goal. Maddy was fascinated by how quickly each player ran down the court and how hard they kept working to find new positions and be ready for the ball. At times, all that could be heard was the squeak of their rubber soles on the polished boards, interspersed with the umpire’s whistle, a call for the ball or the cheers of the crowd. It wasn’t until after half-time that Maddy remembered that she’d vowed to watch Madi Robinson’s game in particular, to see what she could learn.
The only problem was that by this time, Prani was starting to get restless. She started chatting to Maddy about when she thought the next sleepover might be, if her mum would let her have it at their house or if maybe Maddy would have it at hers …
Maddy knew that Prani really only played netball just to be with her friends, that she wasn’t as fired-up about netball as Maddy was. But even though Maddy knew that Prani was getting bored, she still didn’t really want to talk – she wanted to watch Madi Robinson play.
‘Hey Prani, did you see that intercept?’ Maddy asked, trying to get Prani interested in the game.
But Prani just kept chatting – and now she couldn’t even sit still. First she began squirming in her seat, then she stood up to look behind her, which made her seat spring up with a bang. When she plonked back down, she made all of the seats in the whole row shake – and Maddy could tell from the looks people were giving her that Prani was starting to annoy the people around them.
Maddy spotted her mum making her way back along the row with a bucket of popcorn.
‘Yay! Popcorn!’ Prani chirped, and for the next little while she sat still in her seat, munching happily.
‘Thanks, Mum,’ Maddy said, giving her a warm smile. Her mum always knew how to make things work.
Maddy grabbed a handful of popcorn and turned her attention back to the game.
What does Madi do that makes her so good?
The more Maddy watched, the more she realised that Madi pushed hard for everything. She never waited for the ball, she grabbed it. She never called from behind; she always got in front of her player.
I can do that, Maddy thought to herself. Maybe if I do that in the next game, Janet will notice. She keeps telling us to get in front …
After watching Madi Robinson for the rest of the third quarter, Maddy felt confident that she had some useful tips. In the final quarter of the game, she turned her attention to enjoying Prani’s company and barely watched the game. They took turns flicking popcorn at different targets, mostly the clumps of Silver Ferns supporters, until Maddy’s mum caught them out and removed the popcorn bucket. Then they tried to start a Mexican wave going through the crowd, with no success at all.
When the final siren went, Maddy started cheering for the Diamonds’ win but Prani grabbed her wrist. ‘Come on. Let’s go down to the barrier. We have to get Madi’s signature!’
The two of them raced down to get a good position at the barrier above the Diamonds’ team bench. They hung over the rail, waving their program and pen to get the players’ attention. The Diamonds did their warm-down laps on the court and then wandered back to the bench for a drink. Finally, a few of the players came over to the waiting fans.
‘Madi! Madi!’ Maddy called, but she didn’t look over.
‘MADI! THIS GIRL HAS THE SAME NAME AS YOU!’ Prani bellowed, loud enough for the whole stadium to hear. She started giggling madly as she pointed at Maddy with both hands.
Maddy went bright red but it worked: Madi Robinson walked over.
‘Hey, is that true?’ she said.
‘Uh-huh,’ said Maddy, nodding timidly and handing Madi the program to be signed. ‘My name’s Maddy Browne.’
‘Well, you might have to take my place when I get too old to play,’ Madi said, grinning.
‘What did she write?’ Prani asked, after Madi had moved on to speak to other fans.
Maddy held out the program. ‘To my replacement, best wishes, Madi Browne-Robinson.’
Maddy hugged it to her chest and headed back up the stairs to where her mum was waiting. She knew exactly the spot on her bedroom wall where this was going.
After they had dropped Prani off home, Maddy and her mum headed inside to get ready for bed. Maddy saw the answering machine on the hall table. ‘Oh Mum, look – there’s a phone message.’ She pressed the flashing light and Janet’s voice came through clearly.
‘Hi, this is Janet speaking. I just wanted to make sure that Maddy will be back for the game tomorrow. We’re playing an experienced team and we’ll need her.’
‘Well,’ said Mum, with her eyebrows raised, ‘it looks like you’re a valued player, Miss Browne.’
Maddy raised her eyebrows back at her mum and put on a silly glamour pose with one hand in the air and the other on her hip. But even though she was making a joke of it, secretly she was thrilled that Janet would call to make sure that she was playing tomorrow. Maybe she wasn’t going to be left on the bench after all!
Before she climbed into bed, Maddy prepared all of her netball gear ready for the morning, including her ribbon and shoes and socks. She also found some Blu-Tack and stuck the program with Madi’s autograph to the display wall in her bedroom. She pictured Madi pushing forward, always forward, for the ball, and constantly working to catch the next pass.
As Maddy lay in bed, her muscles were restless, ready for action. She felt like she could run out onto the court right now and play just as well
as the other Madison.
Chapter Twenty
At the courts the next day, Maddy couldn’t contain her impatience to know what position she was going to play. More than anything, she wanted to play Wing Attack, the same position that Madi had played last night. She knew that it irritated Janet when the players nagged her about different positions but she just couldn’t wait any longer to find out.
‘Um, Janet, where did you want me to play today? I just wanted to … um … to be able to … ah … prepare,’ she stammered when Janet turned and looked at her.
‘Wing Attack,’ said Janet firmly, then she looked away again, making it clear that there wasn’t to be any argument.
But there was no way Maddy was arguing with that! She skipped over to Prani in delight and gave her a high five.
‘Yes! Wing Attack!’ Then she added in a confidential whisper, ‘I can try the new moves we saw Madi do last night.’
‘Go Maddy! Go Maddy!’ Prani chanted. ‘Hey, can I have your autograph?’
‘Sh,’ Maddy said, laughing, as they walked over to the team bag and grabbed a ball to do some warm-up passes.
When it was time for the game to start, Maddy moved into position on court. She watched Sienna step into the centre circle holding the ball, ready for the whistle. Maddy felt tense but with a clear sense of what she wanted to do this game.
Go forward, she kept repeating to herself. But the girl next to her from the Central Park team was sticking so closely that it was going to be almost impossible for her to get in front. As Maddy saw the umpire raise the starting whistle to her mouth, she leapt forward – but she was a fraction ahead of the sound.
Brrp! it went.
‘Breaking,’ the umpire announced, giving the ball to the Central Park Wing Defence. Maddy winced. She had just lost her team the ball. She couldn’t waste it like that! Sure of her disapproval, Maddy didn’t dare risk a look at Janet. Instead, she pushed what had happened out of her mind and focused on the game, looking for her next chance.
Before long, Prani as Goal Defence caught a rebound after the Central Park Goal Attack tried for a goal. She sent the ball back down the court. Maddy bounced lightly on the balls of her feet so she’d be ready for a pass. When Lily in Wing Defence turned with the ball, Maddy sprinted forward away from her player. Lily saw that Maddy was free and sent the ball flying towards her. Maddy’s opponent caught up to her and reached out, but Maddy pushed forward and grabbed the ball out of the air.
Mine, she thought to herself with satisfaction.
Maddy looked for someone to throw to. Jade in Goal Attack and Sienna in Centre were both calling for the ball – but they were both behind their players.
Maddy shook her head. Not a safe pass.
‘Maddy!’ she heard Lily call from behind her. Maddy turned and off-loaded the pass. She could hear Janet’s voice in her head: ‘Sometimes you have to pass back to move forward.’
Lily sent the ball through to Jade, who had darted to the side.
Go forward, Maddy thought to herself, and so she raced towards Jade, calling for the pass. She was so proud of herself for breaking free from her player that she didn’t realise that she had got too close! Jade could hand her the ball from here rather than throw it, and the umpire would call that a short pass, which was not allowed. Jade frowned in frustration. She looked around and threw a desperate wonky lob in the general direction of Phoebe as Goal Shooter instead. Phoebe somehow managed to pluck it out of the air and put it through for a goal.
‘Phew,’ Maddy said, exhaling loudly in relief. That was close! This is harder than it looked last night!
The next time a Central Park player had the ball, Maddy deliberately hung back a little to leave room to run forward in case her team got an intercept. When Prani tapped a rebound to Isabella as Goal Keeper, Maddy was ready, running forward to call for the ball. After throwing the ball on to Jade, Maddy sprinted down to the goal third. She let her player follow her down the court, then quickly changed direction and ran towards Jade.
‘Jade! Over here!’ she called.
This time she wasn’t too close. Jade passed the ball smoothly to Maddy, who slipped it to Sienna, who fed the ball in to Phoebe.
Now I’m getting the hang of it, said Maddy to herself. She felt the adrenalin buzzing through her legs and allowed herself a glance to the sidelines where she saw her mum smiling and Janet clapping.
‘No breaking! Get in front!’ Janet urged the Gems.
Maddy stood behind the line, ready for the whistle. She was determined not to break this time – but she was equally determined not to let her player get in front of her. Just as the umpire raised the whistle, Maddy bent her knees in readiness. The whistle went and Maddy leapt in front of the Central Park Wing Defence. Sienna grinned and sent Maddy a quick chest pass, and Maddy had the ball sailing overhead to Jade before the Central Park players even knew what was happening. Moments later, they had another goal.
‘Yay! Woohoo!’ The Marrang Gems hooted in pleasure as they continued to get the better of the feared Central Park team.
Chapter Twenty-one
‘Great play, everyone. Remember: short, safe passes are always the way to go. And safe is what we need if we want to keep winning this game.’ It was half-time and Janet had brought the team all in together. ‘Has anyone noticed how Maddy is getting in front of her player and coming forward for the pass? That’s what I want all of you to do.’
Maddy bit into her orange quarter to hide her proud grin. She had dreamed of this happening but never really believed it would come true. She had tried out some of Madi’s moves and they had actually worked! She took a deep breath to try to settle her jittery stomach but this time it wasn’t anxious jitters, it was happy jitters.
It doesn’t get better than this! Maddy thought to herself.
Spurred on by their success in the first half of the game, the girls continued to outplay Central Park. Maddy’s efforts were rewarded with a whole game in Wing Attack, and with everyone working to get in front of their players, the Gems played better than they ever had before.
Brrp, went the umpire’s whistle, calling for the end of the game.
They had won!
The girls jumped into the air, cheering.
‘That was the best game ever! Go Gems!’ yelled Maddy, her eyes shining.
‘It was awesome!’ agreed Lily.
The girls all tried for a joint high five. They leapt up into the air – only to fall on top of each other, laughing, as half of them mistimed their jumps and missed each other’s outstretched hands.
It took a while but finally Maddy’s mum managed to drag her away to head home.
‘Great game, Maddy, you played so well!’ Mum said. ‘So should we sign you up for another sport next season now that you’ve tried netball? You’re probably getting a bit sick of it now, aren’t you?’ she teased.
‘Mum,’ Maddy said in mock huffiness, ‘I will have you know that I am now officially hooked on netball so there will be no changing sports!’
Maddy caught her reflection in the glass of the clubroom door as they walked past. She grinned to herself.
That’s right – I’m a netballer!
The Marrang Gems
Maddy Browne
Isabella Contesotto
Sienna Handley
Jade Mathison
Prani Patel
Lily Scott
Charlotte Stevens
Phoebe Tadic
Player Profile
Maddy Browne
Full name: Madison Jane Browne
Nicknames: Maddy, Mads
Age: 12
Height: 146 centimetres
Family: Mum and Dad
School: Marrang Public
Hobbies: Maddy has enjoyed playing netball for more than half her life! She first started netball when she was five years old when her Mum enrolled her in NetSetGO training. This is where she learnt the basic rules of netball. After school and on the weekends, Maddy loves watching
professional netball matches and learning new moves. She is so hooked on netball that every Friday night she sets out her Gems uniform and tries to guess what position she will get to play in the game the next day. Maddy likes keeping fit by taking her black cocker spaniel, Boots, to the park and by playing basketball with her cousin, Jack. She also enjoys having sleepovers with her Gems teammates, especially with her best friend, Prani. Maddy hopes that the next sleepover can be at her house.
Netball club: Marrang Netball Club
Netball team: Marrang Gems, the Marrang Netball Club Under 13s team
Netball coach: Janet
Training day: Wednesday
Netball uniform: Royal blue netball dress with white side panels where ‘Marrang’ is written in pink. Maddy also likes to wear a pink ribbon in her hair to match the pink on her uniform.
Favourite netball positions: Wing Attack, Centre
Netball idol: Australian Diamonds and Melbourne Vixens player Madison Robinson
Best netball moment: Playing Wing Attack for the Marrang Gems and being pivotal in their win against Central Park and putting into practice some of the moves she learnt from watching Madi Robinson.
Netball ambition: To one day play for the Diamonds. In the meantime, her goal is to win every centre pass for her team.
Netball Drills
Perfect Passing Practice
1. Grab a partner and a netball.
2. Stand about three metres apart and face your partner.
3. Practise 20 throws of each of the passes described below.
Shoulder Pass
Hold the ball in one hand. Bend your elbow so that the ball is sitting in your hand and your hand is around the same level as your shoulder. Throw the ball using only that hand.