Eliza gave Lily a huge smile. ‘You were amazing! Truly, Lily, you are heaps better than most players are at your age!’
‘Really?’
‘I’ll be back here scouting for talent in a few years, so be ready!’
Lily laughed in delight. ‘You’re on!’
The Marrang Gems
Maddy Browne
Isabella Contesotto
Sienna Handley
Jade Mathison
Prani Patel
Lily Scott
Charlotte Stevens
Phoebe Tadic
Player Profile
Lily Scott
Full name: Lily Grace Scott
Nickname: Lil
Age: 12
Height: 149 centimetres
Family: Mum, Dad and 13-year-old brother Steven
School: Marrang Public
Hobbies: Lily has always loved playing netball. She has been around netball courts for as long as she can remember, because her mum has always played the game and encouraged Lily to learn. Lily thinks she is very lucky to have her mum as the coach of the Gems. She loves that she can play in a team with some of her friends from school and also some new girls, who she likes getting to know. Her favourite new friend is Phoebe. They visit each other after school and on the weekend and practise their netball skills in each other’s backyards. Lily likes it most, though, when all her friends are over, hanging out in her garage, which has been set up with couches and beanbags, a TV and even a fridge with soft drinks and lollies hidden inside! Lily likes to play tricks on her brother Steven when he least expects it.
Netball club: Marrang Netball Club
Netball team: Marrang Gems, the Marrang Netball Club Under 13s team
Netball coach: Janet
Training day: Wednesday
Netball uniform: Royal blue netball dress with white side panels where ‘Marrang’ is written in pink. Lily also likes to wear a pink ribbon in her hair to match the pink on her uniform – when she can find it, that is!
Favourite netball position: Wing Defence
Netball idol: Australian Diamonds and NSW Swifts player Julie Corletto
Best netball moment: Making a crucial intercept that stopped the Central Park Wing Attack passing the ball to their goalers. The intercept resulted in the Marrang Gems scoring the winning goal of the game.
Netball ambition: To play for the Australian Diamonds one day as Wing Defence, like her idol Julie Corletto.
Netball Drills
Catch. Pivot. Pass
This drill will help you to practise a 180-degree pivot (the ‘super-pivot’).
1. Grab a netball and form a circle with your friends.
2. Pass the ball around the circle, in a clockwise direction.
3. Be ready for a pass by turning to the player with the ball.
4. Catch the ball and pivot to face the next player in the circle. When you pivot, plant one foot firmly on the ground, lift the other leg and spin around to face the player you are passing to. Only then should you put your foot back down on the ground. This is a 180-degree pivot. Try to spin using one smooth moment rather than lots of little movements.
5. Once you are facing the next player in the circle, pass them the ball.
6. When you get better at this, try the drill again, but this time pass the ball around the circle in an anti-clockwise direction.
HOT TIP
It helps to say the words aloud: catch, pivot, pass.
Piggy in the Middle
The aim of this drill is to practise jumping high and stretching wide, so that you can leap up for intercepts and disrupt passes between opposition players.
1. Grab a netball and form a circle with all your friends but one. Players who form the circle are not allowed to move from their spot.
2. The one player who is not part of the circle stands in the middle of the circle. The ‘piggy’ in the middle is allowed to move around in the inside of the circle.
3. Players in the circle pass the ball to each other, in no particular order.
5. If the ‘piggy’ in the middle touches the ball, the player who threw the ball swaps with the player in the middle and becomes the ‘piggy’.
HOT TIP
When you have your turn in the middle, watch the eyes of the person with the ball. It will give you a hint as to where they will throw it.
Chalk It Up!
All you need for this drill is chalk and a high wall outside. Make sure you ask permission to make chalk marks on the wall before you begin!
1. Stand side-on to the wall, nice and close, with the chalk in whichever hand is closest to the wall.
2. Bend your knees and jump as high as you can.
3. At the highest point of your jump, mark the wall with the chalk.
4. Each time you jump, try to jump higher. By making a mark on the wall each time you jump, you will be able to check your progress.
5. If you are with a friend, take turns jumping. If you each pick a different colour chalk to mark the wall with, you will be able to see who can jump the highest.
HOT TIP
As you jump, throw your arms up to help get you even higher.
Netball Positions
Watch out for the fourth Netball Gems book
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Version 1.0
PIVOT AND WIN
9780857987693
First published by Random House Australia in 2015
Copyright © Random House Australia 2015
The moral right of the authors and illustrator has been asserted.
A Random House Australia book
Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd
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www.randomhouse.com.au
Random House Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com/offices.
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Creator: Gibbs, Lisa, author
Title: Pivot and win / Lisa Gibbs, Bernadette Hellard; illustrator Cat MacInnes
ISBN: 9780857987693 (ebook)
Series: Netball gems; 3
Subjects: Netball – Juvenile fiction
Other Creators/Contributors: Hellard, Bernadette, author; MacInnes, Cat, illustrator
Dewey Number: A823.4
Cover illustration by Cat MacInnes
Cover design by Kirby Armstrong