Living the Dream

Being as organised as I am, I booked my trip to Melbourne 6 months in advance. My excitement continued to build in the months leading up to the trip and since arriving in Melbourne, the programme has exceeded my expectations in every possible way.

Netball in Australia is hugely different to my experience in England. Firstly, the facilities are incredible. Each week we train and play matches at the State Netball and Hockey Centre, which has a high-performance gym and 11 netball courts (facilities we could only dream of in the UK) and is the home of Netball Victoria and the Melbourne Vixens Super Netball team. The style of play is also very different. It’s much quicker and more physical in Australia. I feel my game has developed ten-fold and I’d highly recommend any aspiring player in the UK to experience playing netball in Australia to improve their game.

Whilst in Melbourne I’ve been lucky enough to play for 2 netball teams and one of these teams won a premiership title. In Australia, the competition winner is determined by and end of season grand final. Playing in a grand final match and winning this game was incredible and we had an awesome time celebrating our victory!

In addition to playing myself, living in one of the world’s best cities for netball has also given me the chance to watch some fantastic matches. A highlight was being able to see the Suncorp Super Netball Grand Final between the New South Wales Swifts and the Adelaide Thunderbirds which was one of the most amazing games I have ever seen…and I have been to a lot of netball matches.

Over the past 6 months, Sport Lived have organised some amazing social events for us. A personal highlight was going to the Australian Grand Prix where the atmosphere, amazing weather and great company made it a day I’ll remember for a long time to come.

Thank you to Sport Lived for 6 months that I will never forget; memories that will last a lifetime and new friends for life.