“Any ideas?”

It started with an email from Dinah asking if we could do something as a walking netball group in relation to the 26 challenge.

The London Marathon had been cancelled due to the virus and therefore the challenge was to raise money for charities in a creative way and have fun doing it.

I came up with the idea of a shooting challenge for our lovely netball group and Annie, our Team Manager, launched it in her inimitable way.

The aim was to score as many goals as possible in 26 minutes from a distance of 2.6 metres. The really creative part was the goal!  Most followed a prototype of a bucket secured to a step ladder. Some had buckets which were suspended on walls or chicken runs, others had targets at ground level. Sarah’s husband even made a goal and attached it to a wall. It didn’t matter what height it was. The ‘missile’ could be any ball or rolled up socks or tea towel. It didn’t matter.

What mattered was how many you could shoot.  Of course, being of a competitive nature, the ladies rose to the challenge magnificently.

I thought I had better try this out before Sunday (Marathon day) and see if I could actually do it myself.  Bucket was securely wedged on top of the step ladder and time began.  Well, I was pretty smug with myself and scored 50 goals and set this as the target to beat! Little did I know how the ladies would respond. Scores started coming in …

• a score of 27 with “my bucket was moving a lot!”
• 24 goals with “after 15 minutes my bucket snapped!”
• Then Maggie comes in with 83 goals
• Sarah’s next “I’ve just scored 134 goals” this was amazing
• 100 balls in the bucket by Celia
• “I hit the target 154 times but no chickens were harmed” this from Manuela
• Annie secured 93 goals and did lots of retrieving

It didn’t matter what the score was we all enjoyed the banter of trying to beat each other.  Some of the comments were just brilliant and I’m sure everyone had a smile on their face.  Here is a selection:

• The tee shirt made all the difference.
• My husband made me a ladder goal post, only disadvantage the ring was a triangle!
• I did a tremendous amount of retrieving the ball and bending.
• Sarah, did your ball have elastic on it?
• I would like to think the ball was too light and the bucket the wrong size.
•  My husband was pleased when I stopped as he was my ball boy.
• I found it quite aerobic!
•  My accurate aim kept hitting the handle and so the ball went flying into the bushes.

The most important aspect of the day was to raise money for Sage House. I believe we raised approximately £350. Well done everyone, it was an amazing effort and such good fun. I’m sure you’ll agree the photos are brilliant and shooting techniques were pretty good too.

My thanks go to Dinah who collated the photos, to Annie who made it happen, and to everyone who took part

Ann McLean

WI Walking Netball Coach

To see our girls in action click here