Mid Canterbury Netball development officer Natalie Shaw said players didn’t have to be fit or have played netball before.
‘‘It’s all about giving people an opportunity to get active and getting as many people as possible playing netball. There’s the social element too. People want to get out there, play with their friends and have fun.”
Monday daytime netball is your typical netball – seven a-side and normal rules – and it’s great for stay at home mums and dads, or people who might work at night and can’t play in Mid Canterbury Netball’s evening competitions, Mrs Shaw said.
Walking netball is exactly how it sounds – netball where you’re only allowed to walk around the court.
There’s no running and no jumping, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy, said Mid Canterbury Netball’s new centre manager Erin Tasker, who gave it a go recently.
‘‘In fact, in some ways it’s harder, because naturally when you play netball your instinct is to run. The principles of walking netball are the same as your traditional netball, but the added restrictions, like one foot having to stay on the ground at all times, mean you have to employ slightly different strategies.’’
Mrs Tasker quickly found out it was a far greater workout than she was expecting and a whole lot of fun.
“After playing a quarter at centre I was really surprised how much of a sweat I’d built up, but I had so much fun and couldn’t wait to have a go again the next week,” she said.
Walking netball takes place on a Tuesday at 9.30am at the EA Networks Centre and costs just $2 per game, while daytime netball runs on a Monday at 9.30am and costs $5 per game, or $40 for the term. Both sessions are an hour long and are open to men and women, people of all ages and abilities. Parents are welcome to bring their kids along to sit on the sideline and watch mum or dad play.
The midweek netball runs during school term time and takes a break in school holidays.
There’s no need to register, people can just turn up and give it a go.
