On Saturday 1st April the Walking Netball group played in their third netball festival. This was held at Chichester University again in the sports dome, such a fantastic facility. This time there were 14 teams entered, this is the most ever for a walking netball tournament which shows the strength of interest in the sport.

We played seven games in total winning 2, drawing 1 and losing 4. On the day our shooting was rather inconsistent, which was a shame as our overall play has improved tremendously in terms of accurate and consistent passing. Our confidence has also grown and we were not so panicked in our first game as last time. We are beginning to react more quickly to situations and control the game more successfully.

In between games I had offered to do some umpiring so was running from umpiring to playing on a couple of occasions. The team/squad consisted of 9 players: Sue, Sarah, Jo, Jackie, Barbara, Mary, Dinah, Jen (our new president and her first tournament) and myself. Also accompanying us were Jan and Elaine who came along to support and be on standby, but ended up being our scorers, team organisers and giving us feedback; they provided much needed help and support. Thank you both.

At the end of the tournament one player from each team was awarded a medal for playing “in the spirit of walking netball”. This went to Barbara.

 I have to say the games were really fast and the standard was extremely high so we have much to be proud of. Thank you so much to all those who played. Everyone had moments of brilliance on court. Thanks again to Elaine and Jan for their much needed support.

Ann McLean

Walking Netball Host