by Lisa Gibbs
About the Book
Netball Gems is a junior fiction series written in partnership with Netball Australia.
Is being a Gem enough for determined Lily?
Lily comes from a family of great netballers and dreams of playing for the Diamonds one day. She loves being on court and jumping for every intercept. But Lily’s worried that she might never be tall enough to make it as a professional player. How can she get people to look past her height? To add to Lily’s troubles, something mysterious is going on at home. Things keep disappearing and turning up in the strangest places. Could her troublemaker brother have anything to do with it?
Maybe a new move and a secret weapon will help Lily become the netball dynamo she is desperate to be!
Contents
Cover
About the Book
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
The Marrang Gems
Player Profile
Netball Drills
Netball Positions
Also in the Series
Copyright Notice
This book is dedicated to Miki,
who mastered the perfect pivot.
Chapter One
The Marrang Gems gathered around the seats that lined court one, ready for their Wednesday-afternoon training session. There was lots of chatter – all the girls were friends now, especially after Sienna’s fancy-dress birthday party the previous week.
‘What’s that green thing in your hair, Lily?’ asked Maddy. She peered at the back of Lily’s head.
‘A pipe-cleaner!’ Lily replied. She gave the lime-green pipe-cleaner that held up her blonde hair a quick twist.
‘Why are you wearing that?’ Maddy asked. She laughed at the stiff ends sticking above Lily’s head. They looked like little alien antennae.
‘Was it for a dare?’ asked Prani. She stared with fascination at the makeshift hair tie.
Lily giggled. ‘I couldn’t find any of my hair ribbons, so I just grabbed this instead. Do you like it?’ She twirled in front of the girls so they could all see it.
‘Your head looks like a half-finished art project,’ said Sienna, grinning. She followed Lily to a space on the netball court for passing practice, whispering to the other girls over her shoulder as she went. ‘It’s a wonder she can find anything with that mess in her bedroom!’
‘Hey, I heard that!’ Lily protested.
The other girls laughed. Lily’s outrageously messy bedroom was well known.
This was the most familiar part of the Marrang Netball Club Under 13s weekly training session. Their coach, Janet, had them practise each type of pass used in a game of netball. There were chest passes, one-handed passes, bounce passes and high lob passes.
The girls paired up and ran through the first part of training themselves, while Janet stood to one side, talking quietly to Charlotte’s mum. Lily loved this drill. It was like memory work for your body.
When they had completed 20 passes of each type, the girls moved to the edge of the court, ready for the next part of training. Eight girls looked at Janet expectantly.
‘This week we’re going to practise –’ Janet frowned slightly, looking at her daughter. ‘Lily, what’s that on your head?’
‘This? It’s my hair tie,’ said Lily, tilting her head so her mum could see it clearly.
‘Why am I not surprised!’ said Janet. ‘As I was saying … Today we’re going to practise the pivot. But first I need to see if you remember the stepping rules. How many times can each foot touch the ground before you have to pass the ball? Say it together!’
‘Once!’ chorused the girls.
‘When can that change? Lily?’
‘When you keep your landing foot stuck to the ground – then you can move the other foot as much as you like,’ Lily answered clearly.
‘Well done. What Lily just described is a pivot. Okay, show me a pivot, everyone. Jump forward, making sure you land on one foot first and then the other.’ Janet looked around as everyone jumped forward. ‘Now point to your landing foot. Charlotte, it’s the other one … That’s it. Now anchor that landing foot to the ground and spin around.’
The girls practised several pivots.
‘Great work, girls. I see you can already pivot by taking small steps to change direction.’ Janet looked at each girl to make sure they were listening. ‘But what about when you need to turn your body really quickly? You might need to pass the ball fast, or spin away from your opponents’ arms if they’re defending. Then it has to be one smooth move – not lots of little ones – so that you can face the opposite way.’
Lily loved the sound of this! She already knew how to pivot, but this was more advanced. It was like a pivot, but … better.
‘That’d be a super-pivot!’ she called.
Lily wasn’t as timid with Janet as the other girls sometimes were because Janet was Lily’s mum. Jade had said at first that Janet would be sure to play favourites because Lily was her daughter, but Janet never did. She was always fair and Lily loved having her as coach. At times she even wondered if the other girls were jealous of her because her mum was so good at netball.
Janet grinned at her daughter. ‘It is like a super-pivot! And it takes practice. We’re going to do it in slow motion first. Just like when you learn dance steps, you need to be able to do it slowly before you can do it quickly.’
Chapter Two
Janet turned her back on the team and spoke over her shoulder. ‘Watch me first, and then we’ll all try the super-pivot.’ She began to move really slowly, calling out the movements in a clear voice. ‘Catch. Spin. Pass.’
The girls watched her body movement and her footwork several times.
‘Now you try it,’ said Janet. ‘Follow in time with me. Catch. Spin. Pass.’
The team spread out and began to copy Janet.
At first the girls found it difficult to coordinate the movement of their feet and bodies, but like dance steps, it became easier with practice.
Lily noticed that there were different levels of success. Phoebe moved gracefully, like a ballet dancer, but Sienna had a jerky style. Maddy did it perfectly right away, while it took Jade a few tries to get it right because she tended to stomp her foot and bring it down before she had moved the full 180 degrees. Prani, Charlotte and Isabella caught on after a minute or so, but none of them moved as smoothly as Janet.
Once they could pivot quickly, Janet put on some music from her phone playlist. Moving to the fast beat of the top ten songs, the Gems sped up their movements.
Catch. Spin. Pass. Catch. Spin. Pass.
Lily sang along to the songs as she moved, but noticed she was out of step with the other girls. It’s actually easier without music, she thought. She enjoyed music but always found it hard to find the beat. That’s why she had never really liked dancing.
After the final cool-down session, the girls gathered together to grab their water bottles and bags. Lily was still thinking about the super-pivot. ‘I’m going to ask my cousin Eliza what she thinks about the super-pivot.’
‘Why?’ asked Phoebe.
‘She’s a regional netball talent scout,�
�� said Lily.
Phoebe gasped. ‘Seriously?’
‘I can’t believe you have a cousin who’s a talent scout!’ said Charlotte.
‘Well my cousin was on Big Brother,’ said Jade.
No one acknowledged that old news.
‘How come you haven’t told us this before, Lily?’ asked Phoebe.
‘I thought I had,’ said Lily. ‘My aunt works for Netball Australia as well. She and Eliza know everyone in netball.’
‘You should get your cousin to come and watch us play. She can talent spot us!’ said Maddy.
Lily’s eyes lit up. ‘Yeah, good idea! I can’t believe I’ve never thought of that! I’m seeing her in a few weeks at my aunt’s birthday party. Maybe I can ask her about it then.’
Imagine if she saw me play and thought I was good enough to be selected for a state team! Or, one day, the Australian team! Lily was lost in her thoughts for a moment, imagining herself training with the Australian Diamonds. Then she remembered Eliza telling her what the scouts look for in players.
‘They need to have the skills but they also need to be tall, Lil, so you’ll have to grow a bit!’ she had said.
Lily sighed. Will I ever be tall enough to play? And what about my skills? I’d better work on those!
Chapter Three
‘Here it is!’ Phoebe said on Friday night after school, as she led Lily to the concrete area in her backyard. A freestanding goal ring stood at one end, near the brick wall of the side of the house.
Lily ran forward with the netball in her hand. She threw the ball against the wall, jumped up, and caught it as she landed under the goal ring. ‘This is perfect!’ she exclaimed, even though her shot at goal went wide and landed in the garden. Lily had been dying to go around to Phoebe’s ever since she’d found out about the mini-court in her friend’s backyard. She swung around to Phoebe. ‘Your own training court … How good is that? Do you come out here all the time?’
Phoebe grinned and nodded. She collected the ball from the garden. ‘Yeah, it’s my favourite place.’
Phoebe and Lily had met each other through netball and had become firm friends. Lily’s lively personality had helped Phoebe to overcome her natural shyness.
Phoebe threw the ball at an angle against the wall and it deflected, bounding towards Lily, who caught it neatly. Lily bounced it back against the wall for Phoebe to catch, and soon they were sending the ball back and forth, bouncing it high and low, slow and fast, trying to get it beyond each other’s reach.
Laughing, Lily stumbled forward to try in vain to catch a trick drop pass from Phoebe, which hit the wall low and had a short bounce.
‘Not fair!’ she protested.
Phoebe gathered up the ball, laughing and puffing. ‘Only because you missed it! Hey, do you want to play a game?’
‘Okay!’
They worked out the rules of a modified netball game. ‘We can be on opposite teams and start each “centre pass” from this end of the concrete,’ Phoebe suggested. ‘We can pass to ourselves by bouncing the ball off the wall. That way we can work our way towards the other end to goal.’
‘What happens if the defender catches the ball as it rebounds off the goal ring?’ Lily asked.
‘Hmmm,’ Phoebe said, hesitating. ‘Oh, I know! If we get a rebound as a defender, we have to work the ball down to the starting line again before we can make our way back to the goal ring.’
‘Yep, that works,’ said Lily. ‘My ball,’ she announced with a grin, grabbing the ball from Phoebe’s hands and racing to the start line.
They leapt into game play. Lily threw a hard pass at the wall and then had to race forward when she realised how fast it bounced back. Phoebe strained to reach the ball but Lily had the advantage of a headstart and managed to grab it before Phoebe could.
Lily decided to use the super-pivot to turn away from Phoebe and towards the goal.
‘Pivot!’ she announced, matching the tone Janet had been using to repeat ‘Catch. Spin. Pass,’ to them at training the other day.
Phoebe burst out laughing, leaving Lily time to attempt a goal by throwing a lob pass. The ball fell short and Phoebe, still laughing, collected it from the grass beside the concrete training area. She threw it in from the back of the court.
Many hours of play in this space allowed Phoebe to expertly use the wall to work her way down to the starting point and then back towards the goal without Lily stealing the ball. When Phoebe aimed for the goal ring, Lily leapt up and down in front of her, trying to distract her, but Phoebe barely noticed, sending the ball straight through the ring. Lily thought that Phoebe was the Gems’ best goaler.
After about half an hour of trying to outplay each other, Lily called timeout and they sprawled out on the grass to catch their breath.
Suddenly, Lily sat up and looked at the training court. ‘You know what, Phoebs? I could almost imagine we were playing for Australia just then.’
Phoebe sat up and looked at Lily in surprise.
Lily’s cheeks reddened. ‘I know that sounds dumb. It’s just that I want to play for Australia one day.’
‘It doesn’t sound dumb. I sometimes pretend that, too. In fact, I sometimes pretend I play for New Zealand because my favourite player is the Silver Ferns’ Goal Attack, Maria Tutaia,’ Phoebe confessed.
Lily nodded. ‘I imagine I’m an Australian defender, like Julie Corletto … Except she’s really tall and I don’t know if I’m going to be tall enough to be a good defender …’ Her voice trailed away.
Phoebe nodded and they both sat together in silence for a moment.
What if I never grow? Lily worried. What if I’m not tall enough to make the top teams? Mum’s so good at netball. What if I never get to be as good as her?
‘How tall was your mum at your age?’ Phoebe asked.
Lily frowned. ‘A little bit taller than I am now. I asked her a while back.’
‘But Lily, you haven’t stopped growing yet!’
The realisation that she was still growing gave Lily a surge of energy and she leapt up with the ball. ‘Let’s try again. You may be a better goaler than me, but you can’t get goals if I keep stealing the ball from you!’
Chapter Four
The next morning Lily ran to her room to collect her things for netball. Her 13-year-old brother Steven passed her in the hallway.
‘Hi, vomit breath,’ said Lily.
‘Hey Lil, good luck in the game today.’ Steven smiled sweetly.
Huh. He’s in an unusually good mood, thought Lily suspiciously as she went to grab her sports bag from the foot of her bed. But it wasn’t there. Barely hesitating, she tossed aside a pile of clothes, sure it would be underneath …
Nothing.
Weird, she thought.
She swung around and dived into the bottom of her wardrobe, pulling her fallen dressing-gown up and out of the way …
Still nothing.
Lily stood back and frowned.
‘Lily, are you ready to go?’ Janet’s voice carried down the hall.
Lily’s eyes darted nervously around the room and her heart rate quickened. They had to be first at the courts because Janet was the coach. But where was her bag?
She took a deep breath. Focus.
Immediately she saw her windcheater on the floor under the window. She grabbed it and tossed it to the doorway, ready for her departure.
Next she saw her drink bottle lying between her bed and the bedside table. Retrieving it hastily, she threw it behind her and it landed on top of the windcheater.
Something pink on her bedside table caught her eye.
My hair ribbon! How did that get there? She knew it hadn’t been there when she’d looked for it on Wednesday. At least I don’t have to use the pipe-cleaner again! Lily quickly used the ribbon to tie up her hair.
‘Lily, we have to leave now!’
Oh! Oh! One more minute!
Lily threw a last frantic look across the room for her sports bag.
Definitely
not here. Oh well, I’ll just have to manage. Now where are my tracksuit pants?
She pulled her inside-out tracksuit pants from behind the bedroom door, bundled up her windcheater and drink bottle and raced to the kitchen to find a bag.
‘Coming, Mum!’
When they got to the courts, the other girls from the Gems were just arriving. Lily left the team gear with her mum and quickly joined the girls throwing warm-up passes in readiness for the game.
Prani noticed that Lily’s blonde, curly hair was tied back with the pink ribbon in a little bushy ponytail. ‘What happened to your green pipe-cleaner, Lily?’ she said cheekily.
‘I know. I miss it too. But my ribbon reappeared,’ Lily said, grinning.
She went to a plastic shopping bag beside the court, pulled out her drink bottle and turned to see Prani, Maddy, Sienna and Isabella all staring at her.
‘What?’
‘Where’s your new sports bag?’ Sienna asked.
‘I don’t know. It’s disappeared!’
‘You’re kidding!’ Sienna said, laughing with the others. ‘I never thought I would say this, but you seriously have got to clean your room.’
Lily started laughing as well, but then something occurred to her. She was absentminded and her room was a big mess, but she could always find her stuff. Yet a lot of things had gone missing lately. There was her lunch box – she had been sure she had left it on the kitchen bench but it had somehow ended up in Dad’s briefcase … The book she had been reading had gone missing and reappeared in the bathroom … She had found her toothbrush sitting above the kitchen sink …