Dear Editor:
How pleased I was to see that netball was being played at the Summerland Secondary School as part of the B.C. Winter Games last week.
Having played the sport for many years in England, both as a school girl and then an adult I had never seen it played here in the more than 20 years I have lived in Summerland.
The sport was created for women in England in 1890 and spread to many Commonwealth countries. It is played by teams of seven on a court 100 feet by 50 feet, divided into thirds.
The rules of not being able to travel with the ball, having less than three seconds to pass the ball and the restrictions of designated areas that only certain players can be in, makes good teamwork a necessity.
Only the two designated players on each team can score goals from inside a b radius semi-circle and there is no backboard to the 10 feet high netted hoop.
As a fast paced game, requiring physical fitness, dexterity, teamwork and very little equipment it would be great to see it introduced into more schools and adult facilities.
The sport was accepted by the International Olympic Committee in 1995 but the fact that it has as yet not been played at the Olympics contributes to it still not being a widely publicized sport.
Thank you B.C. Netball Association and all the girls and coaches involved in the last week’s competition; you brought back wonderful memories for me and I will now go back out and shoot some more goals in to my netball ring with renewed enthusiasm.
Oh yes, I have had a post in my garden for years.
Marion Murphy
Summerland