In June, 19 members of the Royal Navy Netball Association embarked on an overseas visit to Cape Town, South Africa.
The adventure got off to a bumpy start with a delayed flight and a near miss on the connection for the 10-hour Cape Town flight! Fortunately, the team arrived safely at Hotel Sky and were greeted by not only robots in the lobby, but freshly made hot chocolate and coffee machines outside their rooms, a welcome sight after a long 24 hours of travelling.
After discovering the all-you-can-eat breakfast, the girls headed off to Wynberg Military Hospital to play two netball matches against South Africa’s Western Province Military team. After a warm greeting, the team stood for both National Anthems and the development team kicked off their overseas visit with a win of 39-31.
AB Lucy Ellison said, “It was really interesting to play against a different style of netball and we all learnt a lot from the South African netball players about how to adapt our game and be inventive with our movement and passing.”
A different member of the netball team was nominated to book a meal each night, and day 2 saw the team head to ‘Tiger’s Milk’ at the V&A waterfront, named after Prince Alfred, son of Queen Victoria. He first visited the area in 1860 as a midshipman on HMS Euryalus and started construction of the harbour breakwater. Developing into the 123 hectares of food, shopping, and entertainment that it is today the V&A is now one of Africa’s most visited destinations, with more than 24 million visitors annually.
The weather made the team’s original plans of taking the ferry to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years of his 27-year imprisonment, impossible due to high winds, rain, and choppy seas. Not to be defeated, the team took a ‘hop on, hop off’ open top bus tour in gale force winds instead! The tour included a vineyard and wine tasting, a wildlife sanctuary, and the mountain settlement, Imizamo Yethu.
Day 4 was another day of netball, this time at a venue inside Reddam House Constantia school. On arrival the team were directed to the indoor court, in the school hall on a solid rock floor- not an ideal surface for an impact sport!
With more of an audience this time, consisting of the Western Province Military team’s friends and family, two more matches were played against the women’s team and another two wins successfully secured for the Navy.
Lucy said, “We were put through our paces however when we played against the men! Men from the Western Province Military team, most of whom had played netball since school, played against a mixture of Open and Development RN players.
“The game was quick, very quick- even the umpires struggled to keep up. The men came away with the win which was well deserved, especially as they had a player from South Africa’s national team on the court who was very impressive.
“Again, we were able to learn from their style of play and we hope to introduce some of their techniques to our own style.”
An ‘African Experience’ 14 course meal followed the busy day of netball, where the team sampled traditional dishes accompanied by music, dancing, and face painting by traditional methods.
The final netball matches of the trip saw the RN players start off the warm up with the dance they had learnt during the ‘African Experience’, soon to be joined by the SA team, with a bit of Cotton-Eyed Joe thrown in to really get the heart rates going.
The Open and Development team combined for the first match, with the win going to the Royal Navy. A fun tournament followed with four teams consisting of both RN and South African players.
Lucy said, “It was great to integrate our teams and playing styles in a fun and friendly environment.
“The Royal Navy girls were then treated to a traditional South African braai, cooked by the South African team themselves.
“After exchanging various gizzets we said our goodbyes. It was clear that friendships had been formed and netball techniques shared, so overall it was an incredibly positive experience in both a cultural and sporting sense.”
Next on the agenda was a visit to a township called Masiphumelele. In the 1980’s, roughly 400-500 people settled there due to the consequences of Apartheid, however it now has a population of roughly 26-30,000.
Lucy said, “We arrived at the primary school, where we found boys and girls aged between 8-13 playing netball. They all looked as though they had been playing for years and were very adept already at the rules, positions, and movements in netball. We were thoroughly impressed and introduced ourselves to the excited group.
“After splitting everyone up into Defence, Mid Court and Shooting, the RN girls led coaching sessions which included fun games such as stuck in the mud to begin with, following by some simple netball drills specific to their area of the court.
“Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and we were thanked in the form of a song, sung by the school children. We decided that we might need to work on our singing skills, as when encouraged to reciprocate, all we could offer was a rendition of ‘a sailor went to sea sea sea…”
The team then went to Reddam House Constantia school to play two further matches. The Open team played a selection of coaches from the school and came away with a win, while the Development team played their U19 team who were victorious, with a score of 20-11 to the school.
Going out with a bang, the team embarked on a safari for the last day, seeing lions, giraffes, elephants, zebras, ostriches, rhinos and even a hippo.
Lucy said, “The overseas visit was an experience that all the girls thoroughly enjoyed. It encouraged team cohesion, bonding, and a sense of togetherness that we would not have otherwise shared.
“Not only did we learn about a completely different style of netball to our own, but we were able to visit a township where young children were just starting out on their netball journey, and play against a VERY competitive men’s team (which is a first for the RNNA).
“This visit could not have come at a better time, as the RNNA are starting to introduce and encourage mixed netball in the Royal Navy."
