Rugby exec beat netball girls at their first annual Netball Fun Day

On Saturday 30th October the first ever Netball Fun Day was hosted by ICUNC. The day started with the sun shining, a clear sky and a lot of excitable Netball girls.

As 2 o’clock approached, numbers at the courts began to grow, with members from not just the netball club, but rugby and hockey, and even a few bioengineers as well. After a quick warm up game of touch rugby, everyone prepared for the Grudge Match between the Netball girls and Rugby boys.

Players were called on court but the only shooter for the girls, Nicole, was yet to arrive. So usual defenders, Bernice and Nakai, bravely stepped up to the plate and put on the GA and GS bibs. As the whistle blew for the first centre pass, the girls fully realised just how fast the boys could move. C and WA duo for the boys, Jamie and Joe showed off their dodging skills, and despite WD, Becky, and C, Emma, playing excellently for the girls, the boys managed to successfully get the ball down into their goal third. GD Lorna defended brilliantly, but GA Chris was very nippy, and could jump unexpectedly high for his height, and GS Max showed lovely movement in the goal third, meaning that the score was level at the end of the first quarter.

A quick switch around of positions took place in the quarter break. Nicole was put on as GA for the girls so that there was an actual shooter in the goal third. WA, Lucie, successfully received centre pass after centre pass, getting the ball down to the shooters. Brilliant defending from GK for the boys, Caolan, meant that shots were pretty much being tipped right out of the net! Even though Caolan could jump ridiculously high, this was not enough to hold the girls back and at the end of the first half they were ahead. (Apparently the boys’ lack of ability to stop running after catching the ball was not advantageous to them!)

However, things began to go downhill for the girls after this as player of the match (and top goal scorer for the day), Rob Dowden, demonstrated that boys can actually play Netball whilst sticking to the rules. His great play (and a lot of luck for the boys in general) meant that the game ended in a 7-6 victory for the boys. Perhaps this victory will spur the boys on to win their second most important game of the year, the JPR Williams Varsity match!

Though the girls lost this match they didn’t let it dampen the mood for the rest of the day, with a tournament taking place between all those present. There was foul play. There was amazing play. There were complaints against the umpires. There were a few injuries. There was a LOT of rain. But most of all, there was fun had by everybody. ICUNC would like to thank everyone that came and made the day such a success!