No, not soccer, that worldwide obsession played by skinny blokes with lucky legs (lucky they don’t break and go right up their a***s).
I mean indoor netball. Of course, outdoor is a pretty awesome game too, but I don’t like now aggressive its gotten, and I don’t like a sport where its professional representatives are forced to wear a uniform that shows off their underwear (except for wrestling, of course, where they perform in their underwear).
But in terms of a game to play, and to watch at the highest level, especially the mixed and men’s form, indoor netball is the game for me. I play the six-a-side version, with two defenders, two attackers and two links, on a court surrounded by nets, including overhead, with no out of bounds areas. Its fast, furious and heaps of fun when played against teams who know how to play.
Of course, there is a certain amount of danger, especially when you play against ex-basketballers and ex-rugby players who don’t realise it is a non-contact sport. And it really is. The best games are where players in each team take the rules right to the wire, but don’t cheat. I don’t have a problem with leaning up against my opposite number under the hoop when getting in position for the ball, but when I have it, I don’t expect anyone to touch me. And I certainly don’t expect anyone to push, bash or knock me over, stick their hands in my face, or clothes-line me with arms or legs out wide. That’s not part of the game.
But to see some of the young players (that’s not me, sadly) pluck the ball out of the air at impossible heights of the ground, the fast passes up and down the court, the insane intercepts that they couldn’t possibly have tipped, and finally, the ball go ‘swoosh’ through the net to score two points when expertly projected from outside the D – ah, that’s the beautiful game for me.
Tags: indoor netball, indoor sports