Count Me In Read online

  ‘We really need to play well on Saturday if we’re going to win,’ said Maddy.

  ‘I know,’ agreed Maia. She paused to shoot a goal. ‘Everyone’s so much better now we’re in the Under 14s!’

  ‘We have to remember to go in hard and get a good lead,’ added Phoebe, bending to grab a ball off the ground.

  ‘We should all try to get to the courts a bit earlier this week,’ said Isabella. ‘Then we can have plenty of time to warm up.’

  ‘Good idea,’ said Lily. ‘Goalers can make sure they have time to put up a lot of goals before we start, to practise.’

  Sahar felt worse and worse as the conversation flowed around her. These girls took netball seriously! It was obvious that winning really mattered. It felt as if her heart had sunk to her stomach. Dropping her water bottle, Sahar picked up stray balls and passed them in to the goal circle.

  How will they ever win if they lose points because of me before the game even starts? Sahar tried to think of a solution but couldn’t. Maybe if I try really hard I can help them to win extra points. But how can I do that when I’m so hot in my tracksuit that I almost faint?

  She began to realise what she needed to do. She didn’t want to, but they all cared so much about winning. She didn’t want to be the one to hold her friends back. She turned away from the girls and headed towards Janet.

  She blinked her eyes and swallowed. ‘Um, Janet?’ Sahar said.

  Janet looked up from the clipboard she had been writing on. She smiled. ‘What can I do for you, Sahar?’

  Sahar swallowed again and held one hand clenched against her stomach. ‘Um …’ She decided to get it all out in a rush. ‘I’ve been thinking I should drop out of the team since the team loses points because of me. I don’t want them to lose, so I’m leaving.’

  ‘What?’ said Lily, who had come up behind her.

  Sahar swung around.

  ‘Why would you do that?’ asked Lily. ‘We don’t care about the uniform points. And like Mum said, she’s going to talk to the committee. It’s not an issue at all!’

  Janet nodded. ‘Sahar, Lily is right. The president will be back next week. We’ll sort it out then. I know she’ll understand the situation – it’s just that this has never happened before in our netball association.’

  Sahar’s face reddened. She was trying so hard not to cry. For a little while she had been a part of the best group, but she was determined to do this. There was no way Janet could know that the club would make an exception to their rule. Sahar was sure this was the right solution. She straightened her shoulders and looked Janet, then Lily, in the eye.

  ‘I have decided,’ said Sahar.

  She didn’t wait to hear the reaction of the rest of the team. She didn’t know what would make it harder: if they tried to persuade her to stay, or if they looked relieved that she was going.

  It was a lonely walk home.

  On Friday, Sahar was hesitant when she saw Maia waiting outside the door of the computer lab. It was a visual arts session, and they had been told to go the lab instead of their regular classroom so that they could use the design software for a new project.

  Although she shared a lot of classes with Maia, Lily and Sienna, Sahar had managed to avoid them all week, getting to class just after them and leaving just before, and spending lunchtimes in the library.

  She didn’t know what to say to Maia now that there was no way to avoid her. Is she happy that I left the Gems? Sahar wondered.

  ‘Hi Sahar.’ Maia opened the door and hurried her into the room. ‘Let’s get computers next to each other. Lily and Sienna are already here.’

  Before Sahar had time to speak, she was sitting in front of a computer, between Maia and Lily. She barely registered the teacher showing them the design program. She hadn’t even turned on her computer. All she could do was look worriedly back and forth between the girls.

  Maia leant across and turned Sahar’s computer on for her. She frowned at Sahar. ‘Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have food on my face?’

  Lily spoke up, her eyes not moving from the computer screen. ‘Stop worrying, Sahar. I still don’t really understand why you left the Gems but you’re our friend no matter what.’

  Sienna lightly punched Sahar on the arm. ‘You nong. Did you think we would dump you?’

  Sahar didn’t know what a ‘nong’ was, but she realised she had just been reassured in that casual way Australians seemed to have. She smiled with relief and sat back in her chair while her computer took its time to load.

  ‘You know, I’ve been thinking about this art project we have to do,’ said Maia. ‘Today we’re coming up with design ideas for a piece of clothing, right?’

  Lily and Sahar nodded.

  ‘But we don’t know what piece of clothing to choose, right?’

  ‘Right,’ Lily and Sahar replied in unison.

  By now, Maia was busily typing and clicking the mouse. She stopped and looked at her friends. ‘Why don’t we design a netball uniform for Sahar?’

  Sahar looked doubtful, but Lily’s eyes lit up. ‘Maybe if we do an online search we could even find a place that would make them!’

  Maia grinned, turning back to her computer. ‘Ready, set … start clicking!’ she yelled.

  ‘Hang on,’ said Sienna. ‘Sarz, what are the rules about what you have to wear? You know, if you were to come back to the Gems. I could see you were hot out there in your tracksuit, and maybe we could find something in the team colours, too.’

  Sahar grinned at her new nickname. ‘I just need my arms and legs covered, a scarf for my head, and something that’s not too tight,’ she said.

  ‘Alrighty,’ said Lily. ‘Let’s see what we can find.’

  While they searched, a warm feeling spread through Sahar. Her friends had obviously not taken her quitting the team as the final word. Instead, they had seen a problem and were trying to solve it. They knew that Sahar got too hot in her tracksuit. Plus, they wanted to find something in the team colours. So that’s what they were going to design – or find!

  I feel so lucky to have been lost at the same time as they were that first week of school.

  Fifteen minutes of concentrated searching had passed when Lily yelled, ‘Bingo!’

  Sahar, Sienna and Maia jumped out of their seats and leant over Lily to look at the screen.

  ‘Check this out,’ said Lily. ‘There’s a place in the city that does a uniform with arms and legs covered, and a matching headscarf. Look, Sarz, here’s the best bit – you can have it made in the same material as our uniform.’

  Sahar stared at the screen. It was right there! Before she could even think of how she might be able to get one, Lily had it covered. She was scribbling the name of the website in her folder. She closed it with a snap.

  ‘Sorted!’ she announced. ‘When I get home, I’ll show Mum and we’ll order one.’

  ‘That’s great,’ said Maia, ‘but now we have another problem …’

  Sahar’s face fell. Another problem?

  Maia was grinning. ‘Well, now we have to think of a different piece of clothing to design for our art project!’

  Maia ducked when Lily threw her pencil case at her.

  Sahar walked proudly out onto the court a week later to warm up in her new Marrang Gems uniform. Her headscarf, long sleeves and leggings were all in the same pink, blue and white fabric as the netball dress her teammates wore. She had felt happy a few days earlier, when Janet had called her mama to say she had permission from the committee president for Sahar to wear her tracksuit, just as she’d said she would, and that the team would get back their lost points – the president had been particular about that. But getting her new uniform in the mail had made Sahar feel even happier. She felt as if she truly did belong with Lily, Maia and Sienna, playing netball.

  Now I really look like a Gems player!

  Sahar could feel the breeze moving through the light fabric. It was so different from the thick material of her school tracksuit.
She couldn’t wait to play.

  ‘Sahar, over here!’ called Maddy.

  They did some passing drills with Prani, Lily and Maia. Phoebe, Isabella and Sienna warmed up with some goaling practice.

  Sahar loved the feeling of the light sports gear. She moved freely as she stepped, ran and threw the ball. She knew that when the game against Merrick began, she would be able to forget about what she was wearing and concentrate fully on her task.

  ‘You can stay in Wing Defence today, Sahar, and get the hang of it,’ said Janet, as she handed her the bibs. ‘I think you’ll like it.’

  Sahar smiled her thanks and then raised her eyebrows at Sienna. Sienna had said right at the start that Sahar would do well in Wing Defence. Sienna saw her putting on the WD bibs and gave her a thumbs up.

  Sahar positioned herself on the transverse line next to the Merrick Wing Attack. She focused on her job as Wing Defence. She knew she had to try to stop the Wing Attack from getting the ball and passing it to the goalers. She also knew that when she or another of the Gems defenders got the ball, she had to get it to Lily in Centre or Maddy in Wing Attack so that they could pass it to Sienna and Phoebe in the goal circle.

  Sahar noticed that her opponent tended to run straight forward with her arms out every time she thought she was free to take a pass, so it was easy to tell where she was going. Each time she did that, Sahar put on a burst of speed to get in front of her and prevent the pass. She was glad she was able to keep the Wing Attack out of the game but she was itching to touch the ball. Finally, Maia in Goal Defence got an intercept and threw it to Sahar. The textured rubber felt good between her palms. She enjoyed the feeling for a second before delivering it safely to Lily with a chest pass.

  Sahar was hungry for the ball, now, and she tried hard to get it from the Wing Attack. A few times she got pulled up by the umpire when she defended too close to her player or bumped into her as she went for the ball, but Sahar didn’t worry. She just tried not to do it next time.

  When they came off at half-time, Sahar had no idea who was winning and she was surprised to hear the scores were even.

  ‘You’ve all done a great job keeping up with them,’ said Janet. ‘Now I want to see you take it up it a notch. I know you’re faster than they are. Chase those balls down and see if you can get some more intercepts.’

  Sahar’s eyes lit up. This sounds like my sort of game!

  From the umpire’s whistle at the start of the second half, the Marrang Gems followed Janet’s instructions and played hard and fast. Merrick, feeling the pressure, responded with sneaky passes. At a Merrick centre pass, Sahar saw that the Centre was looking towards the Goal Attack but that her body was facing the Wing Attack. Sahar had seen Abdul fake a strike too many times to be fooled by that look. As soon as the whistle blew, she leapt in front of the Wing Attack and easily blocked the quick pass from the Centre. After taking the intercept, Sahar immediately passed the ball to Sienna in Goal Attack. Two passes later, Phoebe was shooting a goal.

  The cheers from the Gems players were matched by the yells from the onlookers. The Merrick spectators were becoming increasingly noisy in their efforts to spur on their team.

  The next time Sahar had the ball, she was doing a throw-in from the sideline in the centre third. The Marrang Gems and the Merrick players were all swirling around on court.

  ‘Pick up your players!’ yelled one of the Merrick spectators.

  ‘Shut them down!’ called out another.

  Sahar’s eyes fluttered in agitation at the movement and noise.

  ‘She’s getting rattled!’ shouted another supporter of the Merrick team.

  I am not, Sahar thought defiantly. She took a breath, looked down court and saw that Lily was making a new lead. She threw the ball just in front of her and Lily pounced on it and sent it to Phoebe.

  Sahar saw the goal scored, gave a small smile and then got ready for the next centre pass.

  As the game progressed, Sahar stuck close to her opponent, but remembering Janet’s instructions, kept an eye out for opportunities to intercept. In the final quarter, as everyone grew weary, Sahar’s moment came. A missed goal from Sienna had been quickly converted by the Merrick Goal Keeper into a turnover. The Goal Defence had seen the Goal Keeper collect the ball and was running down to the centre third for a long pass. Sahar was in the Merrick goal third but saw what was happening. She sprang forward, her head up and her legs pumping, and raced down the court.

  That ball is mine!

  She was there before the Merrick Goal Defence even knew what was happening. At the last second, Sahar curved around in front of her and took the pass.

  She had the ball now but she couldn’t stop. Oh no, I’m going to lose it!

  ‘Sarz!’ called Lily, appearing in front of her. She had seen Sahar’s intercept and this time was ready as backup.

  Sahar off-loaded the ball just before she stepped, and Lily got the ball safely into the goal circle for another goal.

  ‘Thanks, Lily!’ Sahar called, as she clapped enthusiastically.

  The intercept spurred on the other Gems, and after that they couldn’t be stopped. They scored five quick goals in the final minutes of the game. It was a decisive win at 28–18. They shook hands with the Merrick players politely, but their eyes were shining.

  The Gems milled around excitedly afterwards, with their drink bottles in hand, reliving the game highlights. Sahar joined in happily.

  ‘Hang on, did we win?’ asked Prani.

  ‘Of course we did,’ said Maddy, laughing. How Prani could have missed that was beyond her. ‘By heaps!’

  ‘Great game, Sarz,’ said Lily, grinning.

  Sahar beamed back at her friend, proud of how she had played.

  ‘I knew you’d make an awesome Gem,’ said Sienna.

  One of the Gems – yes, count me in!

  Maia Anderson

  Sahar Aziz

  Maddy Browne

  Isabella Contesotto

  Sienna Handley

  Prani Patel

  Lily Scott

  Phoebe Tadic

  Sahar Aziz

  Full name: Sahar Aziz

  Nickname: Sarz

  Age: 13

  Height: 151 cm

  Family: Mama, Baba and younger brother, Abdul

  School: Marrang Secondary College

  Hobbies: Sahar likes playing soccer in the backyard with her younger brother, Abdul, and sometimes with their cousin Umar. Her favourite position is goalkeeper. She loves the feeling of anticipating his next move and diving to stop Abdul’s goal attempts from getting through. Sahar also likes to run fast whenever she gets the chance.

  Sahar discovered that her speed and her quick reflexes are great skills for netball when she tried the game for the first time at school. The Gems were excited when Sahar joined their team for the new winter season, because they knew her speed and quick reflexes would make her a great Wing Defence. Sahar’s favourite time of the week is Tuesday-afternoon training sessions and games on Saturday mornings, because this is when she hangs out with her new friends. She especially likes it on Saturdays after the game, when Janet drops her home and she can hang out with Lily while Janet has tea with her mama.

  Netball club: Marrang Netball Club

  Netball team: Marrang Gems, the Marrang Netball Club Under 14s team

  Netball coach: Janet

  Training day: Tuesday after school (the time and place have changed for the new age group – now they train on the Marrang Secondary College school courts).

  Netball uniform: Royal blue netball uniform with white side panels where ‘Marrang’ is written in pink, with matching leggings, long sleeves and a headscarf.

  Favourite netball position: Wing Defence

  Netball idol: Kayla Cullen, who plays Goal Defence and Wing Defence for the New Zealand Silver Ferns. Maia showed Sahar a recording of an international match and Sahar thought she was amazing!

  Best netball moment: Executing a flying intercept across court
, backed up by her friend Lily, that helped to spur on the Gems and win them their game against Merrick.

  Netball ambition: To help the Marrang Gems win another grand final.

  Move and Groove

  This is a fun way to warm up before a game or a training session. This exercise will also help to improve your speed and agility.

  1. Choose four cones as a marker for the start of each move.

  2. Set up the cones along the baseline of the court.

  3. Set a different warm-up movement to begin at each marker. For example, when you reach the first marker you might jog to the next line and back to the cone. The second cone could be side step, the third run backwards, and the fourth a sprint.

  4. Do the first movement from the marker to the transverse line and back again. Then move to the next marker and do the next movement until you have completed them all.

  HOT TIP

  You can use the line at the end of the court to make the distance longer if you like.

  Be a Fabulous Faker

  Learning how to pass is important, but so is learning how to fake a pass! If you can trick your opponent into thinking your pass is going a particular direction, you might be able to get them to move out of the way and clear the path for your real pass.

  1. All you need is a ball and a partner. If you don’t have a partner to practise with, you can practise your acting skills and do this drill by throwing the ball against a wall.

  2. Hold the ball in two hands at chest height.

  3. Pretend to throw in one direction by faking a throwing action.

  4. When your opponent moves that way to block your pass, throw the ball in a different direction.

  HOT TIP

  Try looking in one direction while throwing the other way. It’s a great trick!

  Steal with Style

  This drill will help to improve your reflexes as a defender. Intercepting from behind is a great way to catch your player off guard!