Count Me In Read online

‘Janet said you made a very good impression at training. They need you to play in the games on Saturdays. Janet would be able to drive you. Would you like that?’ Mama asked.

  Sahar couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘Oh yes!’ But what about the uniform?’

  ‘It’s okay, you can wear a tracksuit,’ said Janet. ‘I’ll speak to the club about it at our next committee meeting. It won’t be a problem.’

  I can play! Sahar turned to see if Abdul had heard the good news.

  Thwack! A squeeze ball hit her right in the forehead.

  Sahar waited with Lily, Sienna and Maia by the school netball courts for the others to arrive for training. Knowing she was going to be able to join the Gems on Saturday for their first game of the season made all the difference. Though still a little nervous, she was mostly excited about playing a new sport with her new friends.

  Janet was busy trying to sort out the player registration forms. She looked up when Phoebe and Isabella arrived just behind Maddy and Prani.

  ‘You can all do a few warm-up laps of the courts while I get this sorted,’ said Janet.

  Together, the girls did three laps of the courts, then ran back to where Janet was waiting.

  Without being told what to do, the Gems automatically grabbed some netballs to begin the routine passing practice. This part of training was where the team split into pairs and counted 20 passes for each type of throw. This meant 20 chest passes, 20 bounce passes, 20 lobs, 20 passes with the dominant hand and 20 with the other hand.

  Sahar teamed up with Sienna, who went over the different passes with her again. Sahar loved the feel of the netball in her hands, and she laughed when Sienna pretended to be winded by a hard chest pass Sahar had thrown.

  ‘Okay, everyone, come in close,’ called Janet. ‘I have a new skill to teach you today.’

  Sahar frowned. A new skill? I haven’t even mastered the old ones yet!

  ‘Often during a game,’ Janet began, ‘you need to be a bit tricky in order to get the ball down the court – especially when you’re up against a tough team.’

  All the girls nodded, while Sahar concentrated on working out what Janet meant.

  ‘We’re going to practise faking a pass.’

  ‘Huh?’ said Isabella. ‘How can a pass be fake?’

  That’s what I want to know, thought Sahar.

  ‘Prani did that when she was playing Centre at the tournament. You know, with the set plays,’ said Maddy.

  Maia had told Sahar about the set plays earlier in the week. Janet had taught the Gems some set plays to use in the tournament they’d competed in over summer. A set play was a set order of passes from the Centre through to one of the goalers.

  ‘Yes, that’s right, but a fake pass doesn’t have to be part of a set play,’ said Janet. ‘I’ll show you what I mean. Lily and Phoebe, can you come over here to help me demonstrate?’

  With a ball in her hand, Janet began to explain.

  ‘There are two kinds of fake passes. The first type of fake pass is this: I’m planning to throw the ball to Phoebe, but I don’t want to be too obvious about my intention because my opponent keeps intercepting the ball. So I’m going to look at Lily while I pass the ball to Phoebe. This means Phoebe has to be ready for a possible pass even when I’m not looking at her. We don’t want to trick our own players as well!’

  Sahar realised with relief that she understood what Janet was talking about. She and Abdul faked all the time to try to trick each other in backyard soccer.

  ‘Oh, I get it,’ said Isabella.

  ‘That’s cool!’ said Maia.

  Janet directed everyone to have a go.

  This is fun! Sahar thought, once she and the other Gems had thrown a few fake passes. She was laughing hysterically at Sienna, who was deliberately overacting. Isabella was funny, too. She was trying to do the drill properly but was such a bad actor that Phoebe intercepted the ball every time.

  After several minutes of trying, Janet called them over. She was laughing as well.

  ‘We might have to work on your acting skills! Right, here’s the second type of fake pass. You can do this in pairs. This only works when you pass with two hands from chest height.’

  The girls already holding a ball immediately lifted them to chest height.

  ‘Good,’ continued Janet. ‘This type of fake pass works really well when your opponent is right in front of you. Izzy, you can be my opponent. Pretend you’re defending me. Watch how I push my hands out with the ball as if I’m going to throw it one way – but I don’t. I’m faking. This makes the defender move across to block the pass. Once they’re out of the way, I throw it in the opposite direction.’

  ‘Ooh, tricky!’ said Sienna.

  ‘Awesome!’ said Lily.

  ‘I can’t wait to do that!’ said Maddy.

  Sahar loved this one. She didn’t have to know everything about netball to be able to fake a pass.

  As each of the girls tried the second type of fake pass, they found that this one was easier to master than the first type. It was fun to pretend to throw the ball in one direction and to watch the defender leap across in anticipation, before throwing it the other way instead.

  Janet was pleased with their success this time.

  ‘Well done. Before we finish up, I want to talk about game day. I would like you all to arrive half an hour before the game starts. It gives you a chance to warm up together and practise shooting goals.’

  The girls nodded but Sahar just stared at the ground. Her heart thumped heavily in her chest. The excitement she felt during the drills left her.

  Shooting goals? What if Janet puts me as a goaler? I haven’t practised that at all. Sahar swallowed a lump in her throat and tried not to panic. I don’t even know what to do with my feet yet so that I don’t step. Maybe I’m not as ready as I thought …

  Every day at school, Sahar knew she would find Lily, Maia and Sienna somewhere among the groups of girls and boys that gathered on the grassy area around the big oak tree. On Thursday, two days before her first game as a Gem, Sahar was really worried. She had a problem, and she knew she needed to ask her new friends to help her. This was one worry that she could not solve by herself.

  Spotting them, Sahar approached Lily, Maia and Sienna with a frown on her face.

  ‘Hi Sahar,’ said Lily. ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘Can you help me with something?’ asked Sahar.

  ‘Sure,’ said Sienna. ‘What’s cookin’, good lookin’?’

  Sahar’s voice was quiet. She really didn’t want any of the other kids to hear her. ‘Can you teach me what I’m meant to do with my feet in netball? It’s nothing like what I do for soccer.’

  Lily smiled. ‘Of course we can!’

  ‘You bet,’ said Maia, jumping up.

  Sahar looked horrified. ‘You mean here? In front of everyone?’ she gasped.

  Maia saw how uncomfortable Sahar was. ‘We can go and find somewhere else.’

  Sahar gratefully followed Maia while she listened to Lily explain footwork rules in netball. Sienna and Maia added bits, and they kept stopping to demonstrate, urging Sahar to copy them. Sahar was so involved with learning what her feet had to do that she soon forgot to worry about whether other students might see. She realised that repeatedly moving her feet to land, step, throw, land, step, pivot, throw was exactly like …

  ‘It’s like learning dance steps,’ Sahar said, watching her feet.

  Sienna stopped moving and, with a very serious look on her face, turned to Lily. ‘Madam, would you like this dance?’

  ‘Why yes, thank you, sir,’ answered Lily.

  The two girls began a combination of waltzing and jumping. They recited the words as they danced.

  ‘Land and step and pivot … and throw. You dance divinely, sir.’

  ‘Why thank you, madam. Land and step and pivot … and throw.’

  Laughing, Maia turned to Sahar. ‘Don’t worry. If you can’t remember any footwork moves, just don’t move y
our feet at all.’

  Lily, who had stopped dancing, said, ‘Yeah, it took us a while to get a hang of the footwork.’

  ‘And anyway, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if you got pulled up for stepping,’ added Sienna.

  ‘Pulled up?’ asked Sahar, looking worried again. ‘Pulled up where?’ She was getting used to Australian slang but some phrases confused her.

  By the time Sahar headed into class, she couldn’t believe how much better she felt. She was pretty sure her problem was solved. Her friends were happy to help, and they’d made her laugh at the same time.

  I think I’m ready to play on Saturday!

  Sahar stood close to her friends Lily, Sienna and Maia as she waited for the game against Greenfield to begin. The other Gems were chatting easily with her but everything was so strange and new to Sahar that she found it difficult to respond.

  As the girls peeled off their training tops and stood in their pink-and-blue dresses, she was conscious of how different she looked in her navy tracksuit. She didn’t look like one of the Gems.

  As Janet began handing out the position bibs, Sahar wandered over to the bench. At training she had heard about Janet’s rule of constantly changing around the positions the girls played so that they could learn about each one. This included everyone having a go at being on the bench. Sahar assumed she would sit out for at least the first quarter of the game, since she didn’t really know all the rules yet.

  ‘Sahar, you’re on,’ said Janet.

  Sahar looked up in surprise.

  ‘Best way to learn the rules is by being on the court,’ Janet said, handing Sahar the Goal Keeper bibs.

  Sahar took the bibs tentatively and then peered at them. They were different to the ones they’d used in the practice game during sports class at school the other week. These ones were two separate squares, each with a tab of velcro at the corners. Sahar saw that the rest of the players were able to attach them to the strips of velcro on their netball uniforms. She tried to work out how she would attach the velcro to her tracksuit.

  ‘Mum, they won’t work for Sahar,’ Lily pointed out.

  Sahar didn’t look up. She kept turning the bibs over in her hands. I’m here now. Something silly like this isn’t going to stop me. There must be an easy solution … I have it! ‘Has anyone got a safety pin?’ she asked.

  The Gems looked around hopelessly.

  ‘Hang on,’ said Maddy. ‘My mum carries everything in her handbag.’

  Maddy ran over to her mum and in minutes was back with a handful of safety pins. Quickly, she pinned Sahar’s bibs to her tracksuit top.

  ‘Let’s go!’ Maddy grinned and pointed Sahar towards the Greenfield goal circle as she ran to the centre circle.

  Sahar tucked her headscarf more firmly in place and took her position at what she had recently learnt was called the ‘transverse line’. I’m here. I can do this, she told herself.

  Brrrp! The umpire’s whistle blew and the game began.

  Sahar watched as Maddy threw the ball to Lily in Wing Attack. Lily threw a long pass to Isabella in Goal Attack, who tossed it to Sienna in Goal Shooter. Sienna took her time aiming, and the ball sailed up and into the ring without touching the sides. Sahar clapped her friend and then looked around for the Greenfield Goal Shooter, the player she was meant to be defending.

  I think the ball comes this way, now.

  Sure enough, the next centre pass was taken by the Greenfield Centre player. She threw to the Wing Attack, just missing Prani’s outstretched arms. The Goal Attack was well covered by Phoebe, so the Wing Attack threw the ball back to the Greenfield Centre. Sahar stood close to her player but the Goal Shooter managed to step around in front of her, take the pass and then turn to shoot for goal.

  Sahar immediately shot her arm up to defend her.

  Brrrp! ‘Obstruction, out of play,’ called the umpire.

  Oh, that’s right, Sahar winced. I remember Janet talking about this rule – you’re not allowed to stand closer than three feet to the player with the ball. But I don’t remember what I have to do now …

  The Greenfield Goal Shooter patiently stood with the ball while Phoebe showed Sahar where she needed to stand. Phoebe then stepped back from the Goal Shooter and stretched her arm up to defend the shot. Sahar watched her closely so she would know what to do next time. The ball sailed up and over the goal and out of court.

  ‘Your pass, Sahar,’ said Phoebe. ‘Watch the line,’ she reminded her.

  Sahar ran and got the ball. Grateful for Phoebe’s reminder, she carefully placed her foot just behind the back line of the court and then looked up to see who was free.

  ‘Sarz!’ yelled Maddy, as she raced down the sideline, away from her player.

  Sarz? Does she mean me? Sahar grinned and immediately threw Maddy a strong chest pass. Maddy took it cleanly and sent it down court to Lily. Lily tried to get the pass in to Sienna or Isabella but they were both covered and the Greenfield Goal Defence managed to intercept it.

  The two teams had both improved a lot since their season together in the Under 13s, and neither of them wanted to lose. Back and forth the ball went, up and down the court. Sahar found herself sweating with the effort of staying on the Greenfield Goal Shooter and trying to remember the rules as she played.

  When they came off at half-time, her face was bright red and she was badly in need of a drink.

  ‘Are you okay?’ asked Lily. ‘It must be hot in your tracksuit.’

  ‘You’re doing a fantastic job in defence,’ said Maia.

  ‘I agree. Well done, Sahar,’ said Janet. ‘You can have a quarter in Goal Defence next and then sit off for the last quarter.’

  Sahar smiled uncertainly. She was loving being on court but was feeling very hot and faint in the midday sun. I’ll be all right, she thought. Just one more quarter. I wish this tracksuit wasn’t so warm.

  Sahar undid the pins on the front position bib and Maia helped her with the ones on the back. They replaced them with the Goal Defence bibs and put the Goal Keeper ones on Maia. Isabella came off for a quarter and Phoebe went into Goal Attack. Everyone else stayed in the same positions.

  ‘Strong and steady,’ said Janet, as they prepared to take the court again.

  Sahar wiped the sweat running down her face and took her position next to the Greenfield Goal Attack. Maddy took the centre pass, and from the first whistle of the second half, the two teams fought hard to maintain control of the ball.

  Sahar knew her job was to follow her player and stop her from getting the ball and scoring, but she also kept an eye on the ball as it came down the court. She was often tempted to run out ahead and try to steal it off the other team.

  Finally, she couldn’t resist. She saw the Greenfield Goal Defence look down the court to the Wing Attack. As the ball was released, Sahar stepped away from the Greenfield Goal Attack and quickly ran forward into the centre third. In a flash, she curved around the Wing Attack and stole the ball just before it reached the Greenfield player’s ready hands. Propelled forward by her own speed, Sahar needed to off-load the ball quickly. But there was no one there and she stumbled with the ball still in her hands.

  Brrrp! ‘Stepping,’ said the umpire.

  Oh no, I messed up. That was stupid.

  ‘Great intercept, Sarz! Sorry I wasn’t there to back you up,’ said Lily.

  ‘Nice one.’ Maddy patted her encouragingly on the shoulder.

  ‘Well done, Sahar,’ called Janet, clapping from the sidelines.

  Sahar looked around her in surprise and ran back to mark the Greenfield Goal Attack. Maybe I’m not doing so badly after all!

  This time, when the ball came down the court, Sahar tried to stay on her player, but she was getting so overheated it was soon all she could think about. She struggled to keep track of the Goal Attack.

  The ball flew past her and a goal was scored before she could get into position to defend. She was glad to hear the whistle for three-quarter time.

  Sah
ar headed for the bench, feeling hot and bothered. She gladly handed the position bibs to Isabella and collapsed onto the bench seat beside the court.

  If only there was some shade …

  Sahar watched the Gems regroup for the last quarter, conscious that the scores were close. She sipped her drink and cheered every goal. She admired the skills of the players and wondered if she would ever be as good as them.

  ‘Go!’ she called out, as Phoebe took aim and scored a final goal, moments before the end of the game.

  Sahar hurried over to check the scoresheet and announced the outcome of the game to the Gems players as they came off court. ‘26–25 to us!’

  ‘Yay!’ the Gems cheered.

  ‘Great start to the season,’ said Sienna.

  Sahar beamed. My first game with the Gems and we won!

  Janet was smiling too. ‘Congratulations, girls, you played so well out there today. Now, I know you’ve seen the score, but I should tell you that it’ll be recorded minus two points.’

  The girls looked confused.

  ‘Why?’ asked Lily.

  ‘I’m sure most of you know the rules about uniforms. If a player isn’t wearing the correct uniform, their team loses two points. But this applies more to forgetting your uniform, or being lazy about having the right uniform, rather than having to wear something different for special reasons.’ Janet glanced at Sahar and smiled. ‘I haven’t been able to speak to the committee about an exception because the president has been away, but I’m sure it won’t be an issue at all. I just wanted to bring it up because, while I’m sorting it out, we’ll lose those two points. I don’t want anyone worrying about it, though.’

  The girls nodded in understanding, but Sahar just stared at Janet in horror.

  It was Tuesday and training was almost over. Janet directed the Gems to spend the last ten minutes shooting goals. Balls bounced and flew around one of the goal rings. Everyone was standing in the goal circle, talking as they took a shot at goal or passed the ball to someone else. Sahar dangled her water bottle on one finger. She listened to the Gems chatting about the weekend competition.