On
Monday 3rd May Joan Young, who was responsible for selecting the
national team to play in the European Netball Tournament in Malta, returned to Israel to help the team progress
still further.
Joan's
week was pre-arranged to include several training sessions for the squad plus a
visit to Tel Aviv's netball club immediately upon her arrival. The club members
benefitted from a strenuous couple of hours which will undoubtedly help them
perform even better in their upcoming league matches.
Ma'aleh
Adumim's court was Tuesday night's venue for the team practice. Joan worked the
girls hard and was impressed by the improvement in their play since the
previous November when they had been selected.
A
match was organised for Wednesday evening in Ra'anana to give the national
coaches an opportunity to try a variety of team combinations and discuss them
with Joan. The national team played against a group of netballers that included
ex-squad members and others whose play is also of a very high standard.
Thursday
night's squad practice was held in Modi'in where several of the local club's
players came to watch and learn new skills.
Taking
full advantage of Joan's short visit, a question-and-answer session was held in
Ra'anana on Friday. Team tactics, strategies and myriad pieces of advice were
discussed and absorbed.
Joan's
visit should have ended on Sunday but her flight was unexpectedly cancelled and
she was roped into yet another training session – this time for the very appreciative
Modi'in club members.
Israel
Netball is extremely grateful for Joan's enthusiastic support and for allowing
us to share her wealth of netball knowledge. We look forward to meeting her
again in Malta
in June.