Phoebe giggled along with the others, but she didn’t feel confident enough to join in on the fun. Instead, she quietly waited for her turn and then, head down, watching where her feet needed to go, she began. It felt weird at first, to dance sideways in tiny steps. But by the time she got to the second ladder, it felt a little less awkward. The cones were a different matter. She couldn’t remember how Janet’s footwork had looked, so her first attempt was unbalanced and she even nudged one of the cones with her foot.
The coach’s whistle blew as she turned to face the team. ‘Well, that was a disaster,’ she said, raising her eyebrows and looking sternly at those with the craziest hairdos. ‘This time, if you make three mistakes, you’ll be doing three laps of the court!’
At the threat of running laps, the girls hastily rearranged their hair so that they could see properly, and they gave their full attention when Janet demonstrated the exercise one more time.
When they tried the ladders and cones again, there was a huge improvement. On their third or fourth try, the girls were smiling in triumph as they stepped neatly between the ladder rungs and dodged around the cones. Some of them even managed to lift their eyes occasionally rather than staring intently at their feet.
‘Now I’m seeing some balance!’ said Janet, smiling in approval.
Chapter Five
For the last part of training, the Marrang Gems were to practise their footwork and balance in a pretend netball set-up. Janet placed each of the eight girls around the goal circle. She held only one netball.
‘All of you are playing the positions of Centre and Wing Attack. As you know, when you play in these positions, you need to focus on helping your goalers. This means that when the ball is inside the goal circle, you need to stand by, ready to take a pass, in case one of the goalers needs to pass the ball out of the goal circle to get into a better position to shoot.
‘Phoebe and Isabella, can you come over here? Okay. Phoebe, you’re Goal Shooter and Isabella, you’re Goal Keeper.’
Everyone waited expectantly, their eyes fixed on Janet.
‘Phoebe will start with the ball. She has to pass the ball out of the goal circle – to any of you Wing Attacks and Centres – three times before she is allowed to shoot. Each time Phoebe passes the ball out, she will try to get into a better position to shoot for a goal. She will need to use fast footwork and focus on her balance so that she can dodge away from Isabella while she tries to get into a better position to shoot.’
All the girls nodded to show they understood what they were meant to do.
‘Isabella, your job is to try to defend Phoebe. You might even manage to intercept the ball. You will need to use fast footwork and focus on your balance, as well, so that you can keep track of Phoebe everywhere she goes.
‘Does anyone have any questions about how the drill works? No? Okay, great. Play!’
Phoebe passed the ball before Isabella even had time to focus. Maddy took the pass, grabbing the ball firmly, and then snapped the ball straight back to Phoebe, who had darted across the goal circle. Phoebe threw the ball back to Jade but found Isabella defending tightly against her. She dropped back and called for a lob from Jade. The high ball sailed to Phoebe, out of Isabella’s reach. Phoebe took it and swung around immediately, passing the ball to Lily who was standing on the opposite side of the circle. Isabella raced over just in time to block a return pass, so Lily sent a neat bounce pass under Isabella’s arm to Phoebe, who was standing by the baseline. In a matter of only seconds, Phoebe had made her three passes and had positioned herself perfectly so that she was ready to shoot! This was one drill that felt completely natural to her. It was almost exactly how she practised in her backyard! For the first time at netball training, she felt truly confident.
‘Great work, Phoebe!’ called Janet. ‘I can see you’ve been practising a lot.’
Phoebe murmured her thanks shyly, looking down at the ground, but inside she was glowing.
When training finished, Phoebe walked over to where she’d put her drink bottle, at the edge of the court. Lily appeared beside her.
‘You were awesome, Phoebe! I can’t believe how good you were at that drill. Mum nearly swallowed her whistle!’
Phoebe smiled. What could she say back to Lily? She picked up her drink bottle, trying to think of something interesting to say and getting more and more anxious by the second that Lily would give up trying to talk to her and walk away.
‘So tell me your secret,’ Lily chatted on.
‘Um …’ Phoebe looked away. ‘Well, I do a lot of passing and shooting practice at home.’ Her voice was so quiet she could barely hear it herself.
Lily stopped walking and looked at her expectantly. ‘What? I can’t hear you. YOU’LL HAVE TO SPEAK LOUDER!’ She grinned and gave Phoebe a nudge.
Lily’s friendly teasing made Phoebe feel more relaxed, so that this time she spoke loudly. ‘I do a lot of passing and shooting practice at home.’
‘Do you have a goal ring in the backyard?’ asked Lily.
‘Yeah … And I also have a mini goal circle painted on the concrete, and it’s set up close to the back of the house so I can throw the ball against the wall instead of someone passing it to me …’
‘No way!’ said Lily. ‘That’s seriously cool!’
Phoebe gave Lily a small smile. She thought so, too. In fact, everything about today was seriously cool. She had completed the drills really well, Janet had liked how she’d played, and finally she’d spoken to Lily!
Chapter Six
Lily and Phoebe reached the other girls gathered around their water bottles and sports bags. Lily stretched over Isabella to grab her bag. As she pulled it towards her, a square white envelope fell out.
‘Hey, what’s this?’
All the girls gathered around.
Lily opened the envelope and read what was inside. Her eyes widened in surprise.
‘What does it say?’ asked Maddy.
‘It’s a riddle, with a … sort of … puzzle piece … I think. It’s really weird.’
‘Let me see! Yeah, pass it around!’ the girls called out.
But before Lily could show anyone, Sienna said, ‘Lily, I got one too! But mine came in the mail!’
‘I can’t believe you didn’t say something earlier!’ said Lily.
‘Well, I got here a bit late, so I didn’t have a chance to,’ said Sienna.
‘Did you bring yours?’ asked Lily.
The rest of the girls were turning their heads from Lily to Sienna, as if they were watching a tennis match. No one had any idea what they were talking about! Sienna rummaged around in her bag, fished out her white envelope, and pulled out two pieces of paper – one a large rectangle, the other a small square. They looked identical to Lily’s pieces of paper.
‘So? What do they say?’ demanded Jade.
The two girls began reading aloud from their large rectangular piece of paper, each with a cluster of girls peering over their shoulders.
‘Here is a puzzle to be solved by you,
when you are all down at the court.
Look out for a clue, or maybe two;
don’t rush, give it plenty of thought!’
Lily and Sienna looked up at each other. Everyone started speaking at once.
‘What does it mean?’ asked Prani.
‘Who is it from?’ wondered Isabella.
‘It mentions the netball courts. Do you think it’s from Janet?’ asked Charlotte.
‘Nah, it’s not Mum,’ said Lily. ‘But I reckon it’s got something to do with all of us – because it talks about all of us!’
Sienna nodded. ‘Yeah, and it says there are going to be more clues coming!’
‘Ooh, a mystery!’ said Maddy, in an awed whisper. ‘My dad loves mystery shows. Maybe it’s a ransom note!’
‘Seriously, Maddy?’ Jade scoffed. ‘No one has gone missing.’
Lily decided to get everyone back on track. ‘You’ve forgotten about the second piece of p
aper we got! Move over so Sienna and I can compare our weird little squares.’
Lily nudged Prani off the seat and placed her square down where everyone could see it. There were three things written on it:
Sienna put her square on the seat next to Lily’s.
All eyes stared down at the two squares of paper. At last Charlotte ventured a question. ‘Um … Was one of you born on a Sunday? … At two o’clock?’
‘Don’t know,’ Lily muttered, staring at the two squares. ‘Weird … Really weird.’
‘Maybe it’s one of those creepy chain letters that say something terrible is going to happen to you if you don’t forward it to five friends,’ Jade suggested.
A sea of horrified faces stared back at her.
‘No, it wouldn’t be that,’ Sienna assured everyone.
‘Maybe it’s about someone’s birthday,’ Lily offered.
She picked up her square of the puzzle to have a closer look, and as she did, Charlotte squeaked. ‘There’s something on the back. Look!’
Lily turned her square over and saw that there was a coloured splotch covering the back.
Sienna snatched up her square and turned it over. There was colour on the back of her square as well!
‘I can’t tell what it is,’ said Sienna.
Once again, everyone stared at the squares, trying desperately to see a picture in the blurred colours.
‘Well, whatever it’s about,’ Lily said, ‘we’ve got a few days, at least, to think about it and see what we can come up with. That’s what the rhyme said – we have to solve it at the courts, and we’re here on Wednesdays for training and Saturdays for the game.’ She looked around the circle, a mischievous grin on her face. ‘So be ready for anything. Woooo …’ she moaned in a spooky voice.
‘Yes, we’re so terrified now,’ said Jade, scornfully. She tossed her hair and turned away from the group, clutching her drink bottle and jacket.
Prani rolled her eyes. They were all used to this attitude from Jade.
One by one, the girls gathered their belongings and headed towards the carpark to their waiting parents.
Lily fell into step with Phoebe.
‘I reckon this is pretty exciting, don’t you?’ Lily asked.
Phoebe nodded.
‘I wonder what your clue will be. I can’t wait to find out!’
Phoebe smiled.
‘It’s going to be huge fun! See ya!’
Chapter Seven
‘What have you got that on for?’
It was moments before their game began on Saturday, and Phoebe’s dad was peppering her with questions.
‘Janet wants me to be Goal Keeper today.’
‘Well, that’s ridiculous!’ Dad scoffed, loudly enough for everyone to hear. ‘You shouldn’t be in defence; you’re the best goaler on the team. Come on, let’s fix this.’
Phoebe felt herself being swept along with her dad, who was heading towards Janet. When he had an idea in his head, it was hard to get him to listen.
‘Wait, Dad,’ she said, trying to slow him down so that she could explain. ‘Everyone has to try different positions. I’m sure Janet will give me a different one later in the game, or next week.’
To her relief, she saw her dad pause.
‘Fair enough,’ he said, nodding. ‘Why didn’t you say so?’
Phoebe sighed. Sometimes it wasn’t easy to get a word in with her dad!
‘Well, you go out there, my zlata, and be the best defender you can be!’
Phoebe loved it when her dad called her his ‘zlata’. It was a Croatian endearment that meant ‘golden girl’.
As Phoebe trotted into position on court, Dad began cheering. ‘Okay! Let’s go, Marrang Gems! Show them what you’ve got!’ And the game hadn’t even started yet!
The umpire’s whistle blew and Phoebe’s dad took up prime position, midway along the sidelines. He always made a point of encouraging all of the girls, not just Phoebe. He knew each of the players’ names.
‘Be ready, Isabella!’ he called to Isabella, who was playing Goal Defence. ‘Come on!’
Phoebe looked over to Isabella who looked a little startled at Phoebe’s dad’s enthusiasm.
Oh no, thought Phoebe. He’s weirded her out! Phoebe watched anxiously to see what he’d do next. Dad, please don’t say anything else!
But just then, Phoebe saw movement out of the corner of her eye. The ball landed in her opponent’s hands. She hadn’t even seen it coming!
‘Phoebe, concentrate!’
Phoebe jumped at the sound of her dad’s voice. She ran after the Burra Goal Shooter and into the goal circle. She stepped back, ready to put her arms up to defend, but she was too late! The ball was already sailing high through the air and the goal was scored.
This is a disaster! Phoebe thought.
‘Don’t worry, Phoebe.’ Her dad’s voice came from right beside her. He had moved down the sideline with the play. ‘Just remember your training. You can do this.’
Her dad was right. Phoebe knew she could play better than this. I need to stop worrying about Dad and the rest of the team and just focus on what I need to do. She tried to think about what Janet had taught them at training. She had told them to stand close to their player – so close that their bodies touched. This was allowed as long as the other player didn’t have the ball in her hands. Janet also taught them to stand side-on to their player, so that their opponent’s shoulder was near their chest.
Phoebe decided to try it. She stood right up close to her opponent’s side, between her and the goal post.
Hey, this really works, thought Phoebe. I can see my player and the ball as it comes towards us!
This time, when the Burra Wing Attack tried to pass the ball to the Goal Shooter, Phoebe was able to lean forward and tap it away towards Isabella, who was poised nearby, in the goal circle. She felt a rush of excitement when Isabella grabbed the ball and threw it up the court to Prani, who was playing Centre.
Phoebe was determined to try the same move again – and she did. Several more times she was able to stop the ball coming in to the Burra Goal Shooter. Eventually her opponent realised that she had to keep moving if she was going to get the ball while Phoebe was defending her!
As the game progressed, Phoebe became more and more engrossed in the play. Her father’s yells and cheers from the sideline receded into the background. She found that she was able to anticipate what the Burra Goal Shooter would do because Phoebe often tried the same moves when she was a goaler. But now that she was defending, she could see what moves worked to get away from a defender. She locked those moves away in her mind to remember for the next time she was playing Goal Shooter or Goal Attack.
I’m learning so much about being a goaler by playing in defence! thought Phoebe. I bet Dad will be surprised when I tell him!
Chapter Eight
‘Great work, Phoebe,’ said Janet, when the team came off court at half-time. ‘Are you okay to stay as Goal Keeper for the second half?’
Phoebe nodded happily.
‘Well look at you!’ Dad exclaimed. ‘Beating them in defence as well! Come over here for a minute and I’ll give you a few moves you can try.’
Phoebe went to follow her dad but Janet intervened. ‘Phoebe, where are you going?’
‘It’s okay, Janet,’ said Dad. ‘I’m just going to give her a few tips.’
‘Thanks, Bill,’ Janet responded, politely but firmly, looking him straight in the eye, ‘but I’m about to speak to the team, and Phoebe is part of that team.’
Phoebe looked anxiously at her dad. He opened his mouth in surprise – but didn’t seem to know what to say. Phoebe knew it was almost impossible for him not to be actively involved in coaching and cheering her. It would kill him to stand back quietly while someone else advised her. But he had always told her and Max to respect the coach and the umpire, so he nodded to Phoebe to go with Janet.
Janet turned away and called the team into a huddle to discuss tactics for
the second half. Phoebe stood on the outskirts of the team circle, half-facing her dad, not wanting to let him down.
When it was time to go back on court, Phoebe glanced across at her dad and was relieved to see that he had gathered himself and was standing ready to cheer for the Marrang Gems. In fact, he had already started pacing up and down along the sideline, once again calling out encouragement to different players before the game had even started!
The whistle blew and the second half began. Again, though, Phoebe found it hard to concentrate: as soon as the quarter had started, her dad had increased his pace. Phoebe watched as he trotted and shuffled along the side of the court in pace with the play.
What is he doing? wondered Phoebe, as she watched her dad.
Then she felt a hand pat her lightly on the back and a friendly voice beside her. ‘Let’s go, Phoebe.’
It was Lily. Phoebe smiled at her gratefully. She took a deep breath and turned back to the game. As the ball came down the court, she focused on trying to stop the Burra Goal Shooter from getting it. It still felt strange to follow her player instead of trying to get away from her, but Phoebe was determined to play as best she could. She worked hard to use her skills to catch rebounds from the goal ring throughout the third and fourth quarters.
In the final minutes of the game, the Burra Goal Shooter attempted a goal, but the ball bounced high off the ring.
This one’s mine!
The Burra goalers had jumped too early, and they dropped away as Phoebe swung around, leapt up and snatched the ball out of the air. She fed it out to Lily in Wing Defence, who wasted no time passing it down to Maddy as Centre, who threw it to Sienna in Wing Attack. Sienna passed it on, and it landed safely with Jade, the Goal Shooter, who converted it into a goal.
Chase Your Goal Page 2