netball

Netball would be my sport of choice, it’s one of the few sports where I look the part – tall! I have played a couple of times with other mzungus but I was hoping to play with a Malawian team as it is a national passion and the national team are 4^th in the world. I have at last found someone who plays and she invited me along to training. The first meeting training had been cancelled but no-one had told her, the next was great and I managed not to embarrass myself, producing some good passes and reasonable defence. It was very strange playing a familiar game in the twilight, surrounded by black players who were all shouting in a foreign language (my Chichewa is going to have to improve!). I was invited to play in a match on Saturday, we had a full team but our opponents had been tempted away to watch the World Cup, however after about an hour enough plays were coerced into playing and we had a match. It was great to be playing netball at last and I enjoyed the exercise but it’s frustrating not to be part of the discussions about footwork or fouls! I can tell roughly what is being discussed from the gestures but am unable to join in the loud negotiations!