Aim for the Top Read online

  About the Book

  Netball Gems is a junior fiction series written in partnership with Netball Australia.

  Can Jade learn how to bond with the Gems?

  Jade has big plans to be a successful netballer in her favourite position, Goal Attack. She comes from a super-competitive sports-mad family and wants to show everyone, her family included, that she’s got what it takes. But so far, Jade’s single-minded attitude has only succeeded in putting the rest of the Gems offside. Can Jade find a way to open up and let her teammates see that there is more to her than meets the eye?

  Perhaps a surprise friendship will teach Jade that she has to work with the team, not against them, to shine!

  Contents

  Cover

  About the Book

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  The Marrang Gems

  Player Profile

  Netball Drills

  Netball Positions

  Also in the Series

  Copyright Notice

  Chapter One

  Jade’s palms were sweaty and butterflies whirled around in her stomach. She always felt nervous before a game. Winning was everything; that’s what her dad always said.

  ‘Aim for the top,’ he would say. ‘Winning is what matters.’

  Today, winning was more important than ever. The Under 13s Marrang Gems were playing their first ever semifinal!

  Their game was against Thomson, the team that placed first in the comp. Although the Gems had defeated Thomson before, the Thomson players regularly thrashed each team they were up against. The Gems had to win their game today to secure their place in the grand final. If they lost, they would have to compete in a play-off and might get knocked out of the competition altogether.

  Jade gazed out the car window as Mum drove to the netball courts. She imagined her team winning the grand final to become the Under 13s champions.

  How awesome would that be!

  ‘Jade, stop tapping your foot.’ Mum interrupted her thoughts.

  ‘Sorry.’

  To distract herself, Jade carefully retied her rainbow-coloured shoelaces. She’d bought them especially for this game. She hoped they would bring her good luck.

  Jade’s pre-game shoelace routine was the same every Saturday. She had to retie her laces exactly three times each. Neat ties that were double-knots.

  Jade had learnt the importance of a pre-game routine from her dad. Jade’s dad, Casper, was sports-mad. So was Jade’s mum, Olive. They owned an elite sports training centre. When they weren’t running boot camps or kickboxing sessions, they were competing in marathons.

  Sports and fitness were everything to the Mathison family.

  ‘Have you got your water bottle?’ Jade’s mum asked.

  ‘All filled and ready to go.’

  After a pause, her mum went on. ‘You know Dad would be here if he could, don’t you?’

  ‘Sure.’ Jade nodded.

  She knew her dad loved her, but he rarely watched her games even though she’d been playing a long time, ever since she’d started out in NetSetGO. If Dad wasn’t working or running marathons, he was usually with Jade’s older brother Jet. Jet was a junior rugby star. He played for the Under 16s Marrang Falcons. He also played for regional and state teams and often competed in rugby carnivals.

  ‘Maybe Dad can come next week if you play.’

  Hmmm, Jade thought. I wouldn’t count on it.

  Mum pulled up at the netball courts and turned the engine off. ‘Time to hop out.’

  Jade clambered out and slung her sports bag over her shoulder. She poked her head through the car window. ‘Well, at least you’re watching me today. Come on, Mum, or I’ll miss the warm up.’

  Mum’s face fell. ‘Oh, darling, I’m sorry. Didn’t I mention it? I must have forgotten in the rush this morning.’

  ‘Mention what?’ Jade said.

  ‘That I can’t stay today. Mr Marks has a physio session at the centre so I have to go in. He’s in terrible pain.’

  Jade bit her lip so she wouldn’t cry. She knew her parents had to work but today was special. It was her first ever semifinal.

  Mum started the car again. ‘I really am sorry, Jade. But think of poor Mr Marks.’

  Think of poor me, Jade thought.

  ‘Jade! Come on!’

  Jade turned and saw her coach, Janet, carrying her huge sports bag onto the court.

  ‘Okay, Mum,’ Jade said. ‘See you later.’

  ‘Can you walk home after the game?’ Mum said. ‘I’m not sure I’ll be finished before you’re done.’

  Jade nodded. ‘Sure.’

  ‘Good luck, Jadey, I hope you win,’ Mum called as she drove off.

  My day had better improve, Jade thought. This is a terrible start.

  Chapter Two

  Jade dropped her bag on the sideline and jogged over to the other girls. Everyone was there: Maddy, Phoebe, Prani, Lily, Sienna, Isabella and the new girl, Maia.

  If we win today, maybe Dad will come next week, Jade thought.

  ‘Nice shoelaces.’ Maia pointed to Jade’s rainbow-coloured laces.

  Jade vaguely heard Maia but she wasn’t really paying attention. She was too upset. All she wanted to do was cry.

  From the corner of her eye, she saw Maia whisper to Maddy.

  Is she talking about me? Jade wondered. Why can’t she just leave me alone? At least her parents are here watching.

  It made Jade cross to think her teammates might be talking about her. And it made her even more cross because it made her remember that feeling she always had of never quite belonging in the Gems. She often felt left out. Most of the Gems went to the same school and Jade could see that they shared a close bond. Isabella was the only girl from the Gems who went to Jade’s school but they were in different classes and never spent time together. Besides, since Maia had joined the team, Isabella seemed to spend all her spare time with her.

  ‘Hey, everyone,’ said Sienna. ‘Why did the chicken cross the road?’

  Jade lifted an eyebrow. ‘To get to the other side?’

  ‘No, silly. She wanted to stretch her legs.’

  In a fit of giggles, Sienna tucked her hands in her armpits, flapping and squawking like a chicken. Prani joined in, clucking and flapping her wings too.

  Sienna definitely had the best sense of humour in the group. She was always playing pranks. And Prani was always laughing and seemed to like having fun, too. But sometimes their silliness could be distracting.

  Jade noticed that Maddy had wandered off by herself, cradling a netball in her arms and staring into space.

  Don’t tell me Maddy’s daydreaming, now! Why can’t any of them focus? Don’t they want to win?

  ‘Okay, girls.’ Janet trotted over carrying several netballs, which she placed at her feet. ‘Enough antics. This is a big game for us. Our first semifinal!’

  Everyone except Jade cheered.

  ‘Congratulations on making it this far,’ Janet continued. ‘You’ve done amazingly well in your first year as a team.’ She briefly studied each girl in turn. ‘Today’s game against Tho
mson will be tough. You’ll have to dig deep and play hard. Because it’s such an important game today, I thought we’d squeeze in some extra practice, so thanks for coming down earlier than usual. Let’s start with passing drills.’

  Janet often made the Gems practise their ball skills because fast and accurate passing was crucial to the game.

  ‘Chest passes first.’ Janet tossed four balls out to four girls. ‘Form pairs. Twenty chest passes each. Then bounce passes. Then high lob passes.’

  Prani claimed Maddy as her partner by lightly donking her on the head with the ball. Sienna skipped over to Lily and bowed deeply, presenting her with a ball as if it were a precious jewel. At the same time, Isabella did a ballerina twirl before offering her ball to Maia. ‘Please say you’ll be my partner, Maia!’

  While all this was going on, Jade and Phoebe stood watching.

  Is it my imagination or does Phoebe look disappointed at being left to pair with me? wondered Jade. She gave a mental shrug. Never mind. It doesn’t bother me. I’m only here for the netball.

  When they had finished the first round of drills, Janet called out, ‘Take two steps backwards and go through the drill again.’

  Jade’s anger and disappointment melted away. She began to enjoy the drill and forgot everything else. All that mattered was netball.

  ‘I’m so good at this!’ Jade said, loudly and super-confidently. ‘Look at my perfect pass, Janet!’ But as she threw the ball to Phoebe, she lost her balance. The netball flew over Phoebe’s head and bounced away.

  ‘Nobody’s perfect, Jade,’ Janet said. ‘Keep trying.’

  ‘It wasn’t my fault,’ Jade blurted out. She didn’t like looking silly in front of her coach. ‘Phoebe wasn’t watching.’

  Phoebe blushed. ‘I was!’

  The other girls stopped and stared.

  Janet shook her head. ‘We play as a team, Jade. We don’t blame others. You need to think about that. And while you’re doing that, you can keep the bench warm for the first quarter.’

  ‘What?’ Jade couldn’t believe it. ‘That’s not fair.’

  ‘I think it’s very fair,’ Janet said. ‘Now, no more arguments. Go collect that ball. We’re moving onto shooting drills.’

  Chapter Three

  Jade was not happy that she’d gone the entire first quarter without stepping on court.

  I know I said the wrong thing, but what if Janet doesn’t put me on in the second quarter? Jade worried.

  She knew everyone had to take a turn on the bench. There were only seven players allowed on court at any time and the Gems had eight so the girls always took turns sitting out, just like they took turns rotating positions.

  But the Gems were playing well. The score was 7–5 their way. It would be hard to justify switching positions when everything was going so well.

  Jade peered at the score table to see the timer. Only two minutes left on the clock!

  Phoebe, playing Goal Shooter, scored another goal with a fantastic shot from close range after Isabella, playing at Goal Attack, sent a bounce pass her way.

  Goal Attack was Jade’s favourite position and she was itching to be given a go at it today. Unlike the Goal Shooter, who was confined to the goal third, she loved that Goal Attack was able to move into the centre third and get involved in the action further up the court, while still being able to play in the goal third and score goals for the team.

  The players returned to their starting positions. It was Marrang’s turn for the centre pass so Prani, who was playing Centre, stepped into the circle.

  The umpire’s whistle sounded.

  Prani passed to Maddy at Wing Attack, who had expertly jumped into the centre third as soon as the whistle had blown. Isabella called out for the ball from the far side of the court. Maddy threw a high lob pass over the head of the Thomson Wing Defence. It was a beautiful throw and Isabella trapped the ball in her hands perfectly. She pivoted, dodging her defender, and passed the ball to Prani, who had run up close to the goal circle.

  When Phoebe called for the ball, Prani sent a bounce pass her way. But Phoebe was a long way from goal and her defender was directly in front of her.

  Jade checked the timer. Fifteen seconds left!

  ‘Shoot!’ Jade shouted. ‘The whistle is about to go!’

  Phoebe moved her weight onto her right foot to take a side-step shot, which would help her move away from her defending player. But as she lifted her left foot off the ground, her right ankle buckled beneath her. Wincing in pain, Phoebe gathered herself to line up the shot.

  Jade could see that Phoebe was biting her lip. Has she hurt herself? she wondered.

  Phoebe released the ball, sending it upward with a flick of her wrist. Her left leg, still off the ground, was unsteady, causing her to wobble slightly. The ball struck the goal ring, rolled around the rim, then dropped out and dribbled over the baseline.

  No goal.

  Brrrp! The whistle sounded for the end of the quarter.

  Phoebe had a pained look on her face as she hobbled towards the sideline. Her parents sat her on the bench.

  ‘Are you okay?’ Jade asked, keen to make up for her earlier mistake during their warm-up drills.

  ‘I twisted my ankle,’ Phoebe moaned. ‘Ouch! It really hurts.’

  ‘I’ll get some ice,’ Jade said. ‘You stay put.’

  ‘Thanks, Jade.’ Phoebe’s mum looked worried.

  Jade rummaged through the first-aid kit for the icepack. When she brought it back, Phoebe put it straight on her ankle.

  ‘Let’s hope you haven’t done any damage, Phoebe,’ Janet said. ‘I’m going to rest you and we’ll see if the pain eases. Jade, you go on for her.’ Janet handed her the Goal Shooter bibs. ‘Everyone else stay in your positions.’

  Goal Shooter wasn’t Jade’s favourite position, but she couldn’t wait to shoot some goals.

  ‘Come on, girls, let’s win this game,’ Jade said. ‘No more errors.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Maia asked. ‘We played well that quarter.’

  ‘Yes, but not well enough. Thomson can easily catch up if we don’t play better. Winning is everything. Especially in a semifinal.’

  Jade heard Prani mumble something that sounded like ‘bossy’, but before she could question her about it, the whistle blew warning the teams about the start of the second quarter.

  ‘Enough chitchat,’ Janet said. ‘Time to go back on court.’

  Chapter Four

  ‘I’m free!’ Isabella shouted. ‘Pass it to me!’

  Jade stood in the goal circle holding the netball. Although she was barely inside the line, she was confident she could shoot from where she was standing. Isabella was closer to the ring, but she wasn’t as tall as Jade and often missed her shots.

  I’m Goal Shooter, Jade thought. I’m going to shoot this goal and we’re going to win!

  The score was 8–8. From the start of the second quarter, Thomson had made a strong comeback. Jade had scored one goal but missed a few others. Isabella had missed all of her attempts. The Gems needed to score.

  Jade pretended to throw to Isabella. Her defender fell for the trick and moved away. Instead of passing the ball, however, Jade lifted it over her head and stepped forwards, raising her back foot as she did so. She then released the ball up towards the ring, flicking her wrist and pushing with her fingers.

  The ball looped high into the air. It was lined up perfectly until a gust of wind drove it off course. The ball dropped over the ring and bounced into the goal circle where the Thomson Goal Keeper grabbed it. Before Jade knew it, Thomson had worked the ball down to their goal and had scored again.

  Oh no. Jade’s heart sank. I messed up.

  ‘Never mind, it wasn’t your fault,’ Prani said. ‘It was the wind.’ She stuck her tongue out and crossed her eyes. ‘See what it did to my face?’

  Jade couldn’t help laughing. Prani looked so silly!

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘Any time!’ Prani giggled.

 
; Then the half-time whistle sounded and they trotted off court for a drink.

  ‘Hang in there, Gems,’ Janet said. ‘We’ve still got half the game to get ahead. Try to focus on communicating better and trusting your teammates. The Goal Attack and Goal Shooter need to work as a team in the circle. If you’re not in a position to shoot, pass it. Jade, Isabella was in a good position to shoot just then. You should have passed to her.’

  ‘Okay,’ Jade said.

  Maybe Janet’s right, Jade thought. Then again, if it weren’t for the wind, my shot probably would have gone in …

  ‘Good. We’ll swap positions, now,’ Janet said. ‘Phoebe’s ankle is still sore, so Isabella, you play Goal Shooter and Jade, you take Goal Attack.’

  My favourite position! Jade thought joyfully.

  Brrrp! The whistle blew and the girls went back on court.

  But as hard as she tried, Jade couldn’t get her shots at goal to go in. Neither could Isabella. By the end of the third quarter, the Gems were down 8–12.

  Jade felt awful.

  In the final quarter, Phoebe came back on as Goal Shooter while Prani volunteered to sit out and Maddy moved to Centre. The others held their positions.

  The Gems rallied, closing the gap between Thomson and themselves so that the score was 11–12.

  Two more goals to win. We can do this.

  It was Maddy’s turn for the centre pass. She got the ball away to Lily, at Wing Attack, who sent a blistering chest pass straight to Jade.

  Jade was well into the goal third, but not in the circle. She searched for support.

  ‘Here!’ Phoebe shouted from inside the circle.