My daughter started Net Set Go this year. Net Set Go is Netball Australia’s Junior Netball Program. The program incorporates skill activities, minor games and modified matches and is coordinated by accredited coaches.
Our netball association sent out an email letting participants know about the Melbourne Vixens School Holiday Netball clinics and my daughter was keen to attend one. We organised to take along three of her friends, only one of them is also doing the Net Set Go program.
I have attended many different sporting activities /clinics with the boys, but this was the first one I had attended for girls. I was impressed at how well run it was.
At the start of the session the women who would be coaching the girls each gave some background as to how they came to be competing in Netball at the highest level. It was lovely to hear a mix of stories from those who had been playing at representative level for years, to those who only started doing so in their late teens.
This clinic was held at the State Netball and Hockey Centre in Parkville. Facilities were great and there is a cafe on site. I had the two younger boys with me and we took our own food. It cannot be consumed in the playing area, but the centre has a great area upstairs where the kids could eat their snacks and I could still watch what the girls where doing.
The session went for three hours with a number of drinks breaks and one snack break. The girls were broken up into groups based on age and the coaches swapped around doing different skills session with the groups.
At the end, the different groups played a game against each other which they loved. My daughter doesn’t yet know all the rules and the coaches were great at taking the time to explain her position to her and the role she should play.
Watching the professionalism of the women coaching the young girls, seeing their skills and love of the sport, did get me thinking about how much less attention women in sport in Australia receive compared to their male counterparts. Very few women in Australia would be able to play the game they love at the elite level in a full time capacity. It was great to see that the Vixens did have some key sponsorship.
At the end of the clinic each participant received a goody bag with shoe laces, sweat band etc. The players then moved into the foyer to sign autographs and chat further to the girls.
All the girls I took along enjoyed themselves immensely and learnt much from the talented women who coached them, like the lovely Tegan Caldwell pictured above. My daughter has already asked if she can do more clinics next school holidays!
The sessions do book out pretty quickly and the remaining clinics for this school holidays are booked out, but you can find out more information about further upcoming clinics on the Melbourne Vixens website.
You can also connect with the Melbourne Vixens via social media:
To find our more about Net Set Go in your local area, just go to the Netball Australia website and enter your postcode to see what is happening near you.
Melbourne Vixens vs Northern Mystics
Today, Sunday, 8th July at 2:20pm, the Melbourne Vixens are playing the Northern Mystics in the 2012 ANZ Championship Major Semi Finals at Rod Laver Arena.
If like us you can’t make to see the game live, it is being broadcast on Channel 10 in Melbourne from 2pm. For other areas you can see full broadcast details here.
Go Vixens!