In Winter, my Saturdays are spent at the netball courts. I coach three teams – their games are spread across the day. In between those games I’m usually umpiring, or mentoring our young umpires, or cheering another one of our club’s teams. My teenage daughter plays in one of the teams and helps me coach the two younger teams; she also umpires a game or two each week.
My daughter started playing netball at 7 – joining the ranks of “NetSetGo”, learning how to catch and throw and shoot, spending games spinning around the goal post when the ball was up the other end of the court.
I was roped into the club committee a couple of years in “just the second-hand uniform coordinator, it’s an easy job”. My husband was nervous – friends of his said they never saw their netball-focused wives in Winter on Saturdays because of their volunteering commitments. I reassured him – no, no, I’m just helping out, it’s not an all-day thing.
The years crept by. I let slip that I could umpire, so was added to the umpiring roster. I started coaching my daughter’s team. I took on more responsibility on the committee. I joined a senior team… my time at the courts on a Saturday was slowly increasing. NetSetGo moved to Friday nights – my daughter and I coached a NetSetGo team – so now we were out Friday nights as well. I became Club Registrar – pre-season commitments increased significantly.
And yet – as Winter rolls around each year and the netball season gets into full swing – I love it.
Not just me though. My daughter – now in her 10th year of playing and working towards her National C umpire’s badge – loves it too. She has a solid group of friends that have played together since primary school. She knows the parents on the committee and senior umpires from the Association. She loves helping the younger teams learn the rules and tactics. She sees other friends from school and work at the courts and is always ready with a smile and a wave. She fills in for other teams, helping them out when they are short on players.
And when she faced some challenges a couple of years back, Saturday netball was her escape. It wasn’t just the friends she played with each week. It was the adults she had grown up around, coaches and umpires and committee members – all of whom care deeply for every single player in our club. A smile and a hug on a cold Saturday morning. Checking in on how the week was. Tips to improve her game or her umpiring. Not forcing conversation; giving her the space to feel safe to share if she needed or wanted to.
Yes, it takes a village to raise a child.
A village that supports our teens? Even more important.
This is why I love being a Teen Mindset Coach. I offer a safe, non-judgemental space for my teen clients to explore their emotions, navigate challenges, work their way towards their goals, whatever those goals might be. To build resilience and continue to grow into being the best version of themselves. To discover their inner strength, come up with action plans that they can implement, expand their comfort zones and reflect on what they are learning about themselves along the way.
There is no doubt in my mind of the role those netball people played in helping my own daughter navigate a tough period in her life. For that, I will always be grateful.
It takes a village.