Aim for the Top Read online

  Jade lobbed the ball over the defender to Phoebe then sprinted into the goal circle. ‘Pass it back!’

  Remembering what Janet had said about teamwork, Phoebe shot a short chest pass to Jade. Jade caught the ball then pivoted to face the goal. She was very close to the ring. Perhaps too close.

  ‘Jade, here!’ Phoebe called.

  Ignoring her, Jade shot at goal. It missed. Again.

  The final whistle sounded. The Gems had lost.

  Oh boy did I mess up, Jade thought. My terrible shooting cost us the game.

  Chapter Five

  ‘Bad luck, girls,’ Janet said, as they trudged off court. ‘You should all be proud of your performances.’

  But we lost, Jade thought.

  ‘Great job, girls!’ Parents crowded around, handing out oranges and water bottles and patting the girls on the back.

  For the first time, Jade was glad her parents weren’t there. She would have hated for her dad to see her lose.

  ‘The good news is that you get another chance,’ Janet said. ‘This wasn’t a knockout game so next week you play whoever wins today’s other semifinal between the third- and fourth-placed teams. So I want you to go home and practise like you’ve never practised before. I’ll see you on Wednesday for training.’

  The girls said goodbye and wandered off with their parents.

  Jade was left with Janet and Lily, who were packing up. Jade found a stray netball and carried it back to her coach.

  ‘Thanks for helping out,’ Janet said.

  Jade was surprised. ‘Aren’t you angry at me for losing us the game?’

  ‘Why would I be angry? Each of you did your best. All I want is for you girls to have fun and learn some netball skills. Whether we win or lose next week, you girls are all champions in my eyes.’

  ‘But I missed so many goals.’

  ‘We all have bad days.’ Janet laughed. ‘Don’t be so hard on yourself. I meant what I said about you girls doing well in your first year as a team. I couldn’t have asked for more as a coach. Or as a mum.’ She hugged Lily, who beamed with pride.

  ‘Really?’ Jade said.

  ‘Really. I’ve played a lot of netball,’ Janet said, ‘and if I had a dollar for every goal I’d missed, I’d be a wealthy woman indeed.’

  ‘Were you a Goal Shooter like Phoebe?’

  ‘Actually, my favourite position was Goal Attack,’ Janet said.

  Jade hadn’t known that about Janet. None of the girls ever asked their coach about her days as a netball player. ‘It’s mine too.’

  ‘I had noticed!’ Janet joked.

  ‘So tell me what I’m doing wrong,’ Jade said.

  ‘You need to trust your teammates and your Goal Shooter more,’ Janet said. ‘Your role as Goal Attack is to feed the ball to the Shooter so they can go for goal from close range. You have to be able to shoot from long range yourself, but ideally you need to get that netball to the Shooter.’

  ‘Okay.’ Jade nodded. ‘I’ll give it my best shot next time.’

  Janet laughed.

  Jade was confused. Why is Janet laughing at me? But then she realised what she’d said. ‘Oh, I get it.’ She grinned. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to make a joke.’

  Janet rested her hand on Jade’s shoulder. ‘You know, it’s okay to have fun with netball.’ She glanced over at the carpark. ‘Is your mum or dad late picking you up?’

  Jade shook her head. ‘Dad took Jet to rugby and Mum’s at work. I’m walking home.’

  ‘We’ll give you a lift,’ Janet said. ‘We can stop for ice-cream on the way.’

  ‘At that place on Mason Street that has the chocolate-dipped waffle cones?’ Lily asked.

  Janet nodded. ‘That’s the one.’

  ‘I love that place!’ Lily looped her arm through Jade’s so they could walk together. ‘My favourite flavour is caramel-choc crunch. What’s yours?’

  Jade looked down at Lily’s arm looped through hers. Maybe it was the excitement of having ice-cream that made her do it. Either way, Jade was surprised at how much she liked it.

  Chapter Six

  ‘That was the best ice-cream ever,’ Jade said, as she leant in the open passenger-side window of Janet’s car. ‘Thanks for taking me.’

  ‘You’re welcome. See you at training.’

  ‘Bye, Jade!’ Lily called as they drove off.

  Using the key hidden beneath the geranium plant on the doorstep, Jade let herself in through the back door. The house was so quiet she could hear the clock above the fridge ticking.

  Jade had never been good at making friends. Other girls at school hung out and had sleepovers. But not Jade.

  She took her pink-and-white striped netball out of her bag. She loved how it felt in her hands. She tossed it up and caught it as she wandered into her bedroom, then she sat at her desk and switched the computer on. Balancing the netball on her knees, she googled Erin Bell.

  Erin was Jade’s favourite Diamonds player. She also played in the ANZ Championship for the Adelaide Thunderbirds. She was a fantastic Goal Attack and Goal Shooter. The motto on Erin’s website was ‘Aim, Shoot, Score!’

  ‘I like that motto,’ Jade said to the empty room. ‘If only I played like Erin!’

  Jade continued browsing through Erin’s website and her profile on the Diamonds page, soaking up every bit of advice about playing netball that Erin had to give. One of the comments she liked most was about dreaming big and always doing everything in your control to make your dreams come true.

  ‘My dream is to win the grand final in a few weeks,’ Jade murmured to herself. ‘And I’m sure going to do everything I can to make that dream come true!’

  Moments later she heard voices at the front door. Relieved the others were finally home, Jade logged off her computer and rushed into the kitchen where Dad wrapped her in a bear hug.

  ‘Guess what, Jadey?’ he said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Your brother scored two tries today. He won the game for the Falcons!’ Dad was so excited he was shouting. ‘My boy is a champion!’

  ‘That’s awesome,’ Jade said.

  Jet, who was 15 and already six feet tall, grinned. ‘Thanks, sis. It’s pretty embarrassing, though, when Dad gets excited on the sidelines. You can hear him cheering from across the other side of the field.’

  I wish I had that problem.

  ‘Jet’s going to play for Australia one day,’ Dad said. ‘We’re in the presence of a future Wallaby. Mark my words.’

  Jet rolled his eyes. ‘Whatever you reckon. I’m having a shower.’

  ‘It’s true!’ Dad called after him. ‘That’s what happens when you aim for the top, son!’ He turned to Jade. ‘So how was netball?’

  Jade hesitated, not wanting to disappoint him. ‘Um … we lost.’

  ‘Oh dear. What went wrong?’

  Jade shrugged. ‘Janet said we had a bad day.’

  Dad moved about the kitchen, preparing dinner. He was a great cook and often made the family yummy meals. Jade sat down to tell him about the game, even though she was reluctant to admit how many shots she’d missed.

  Dad nodded and said yes in all the right places, but he seemed distracted.

  ‘We’ve got one more chance next week,’ Jade said. ‘Can you come and watch? It might be our last game.’

  ‘Uh-huh,’ Dad mumbled, as he marinated the steak.

  ‘Really?! I can’t wait!’

  Dad jerked his head up when he heard the excitement in Jade’s voice. Immediately she saw that he hadn’t really been listening.

  ‘Have you heard anything I’ve said?’ Jade asked.

  ‘Of course I have.’

  ‘Well, what did I say?’

  Dad pulled a funny face. He knew he’d been caught out. ‘You need to work on your passing skills?’

  ‘That’s so not what I said.’ Jade laughed, despite herself. She could never stay cross at Dad for long. ‘I asked if you could watch me play next week.’

  ‘I wish I cou
ld but I’m running the half-marathon and then I have an appointment with my tax accountant.’

  ‘You’re always busy.’ Jade stood up, pouting. ‘No one cares about netball.’

  ‘Jadey, that’s not true.’ Dad washed his hands then rushed over to hug her. ‘I wish I could get out of my meeting with the accountant but it’s important for our business.’

  ‘You’re always fine to watch Jet play rugby …’ Jade said.

  ‘He’s at a different level to you, honey. He’s going to –’

  ‘Oh, I know,’ Jade interrupted him. ‘He’s going to play for the Wallabies. But what about me? I want to play for the Diamonds. Will you watch me then, or will you always be too busy?’

  Jade saw the hurt look on Dad’s face. She could see he felt terrible. Perhaps he didn’t realise how much netball meant to her. Being focused on his business and Jet probably meant he didn’t have time to think about anything else.

  ‘Don’t worry about it.’ She stomped into her room, grabbed her netball and threw herself on the bed.

  I hate arguing with Dad. But why can’t he see how important netball is to me?

  Chapter Seven

  Jade woke hours later. She eyed the clock. It was after four.

  ‘Oh my God!’ Jade sat up. ‘I totally crashed!’ She hurried into the hallway.

  ‘Where’s the fire?’ Jet said, laughing.

  Jade laughed too. ‘Haha. Very funny. I fell asleep. Are Mum and Dad home?’

  ‘No, they’ve gone out for a jog.’

  Jade frowned. ‘They’re always out.’

  Jet steered her back into her bedroom. He sat her on the bed then plonked himself onto the red beanbag beneath the window, his long legs sticking out at odd angles.

  It was hard to believe that Jet was only a few years older than Jade because he was so much bigger than her. Despite the size difference, they did look similar with the same green eyes and fair hair.

  ‘Do you want to talk about it?’ Jet asked.

  Jade shrugged. ‘Mum and Dad don’t care about me.’

  ‘That’s not true,’ Jet said. ‘They love you. You’re their little princess, remember?’

  ‘It’s been a long time since I played princesses,’ Jade said. ‘All they care about is their business. And your rugby. Dad never stops talking about you.’

  ‘Trust me,’ Jet reassured her. ‘Mum and Dad may be preoccupied with work and staying fit, but they have our best interests at heart. They love both of us and they’re always telling me how good you are at art.’

  ‘But why don’t they ever watch me play netball? I don’t expect them to come to every game – just now and then.’

  ‘Don’t give up,’ Jet said. ‘Keep asking them. I’m sure they’ll come if they can.’

  ‘Okay.’ Jade laced her fingers together in her lap.

  ‘Is there something else?’

  ‘I don’t feel that I can trust my teammates. They’re not as good as me.’

  Jet laughed. ‘What makes you think you’re better than they are?’

  ‘They drop passes. They miss goals.’ Jade groaned. ‘I know it sounds petty, but it’s true. They make mistakes all the time.’

  ‘And you don’t?’

  Jade considered her performance that morning before mentally brushing it aside. ‘Not really.’

  Jet’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Maybe you’re judging them too harshly. Isn’t this your first year as a team?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Well, it takes a while for a team to work well together. You girls have loads of skills to master and if netball is anything like rugby, you’re probably coming up against tough competition. But the bottom line is, you’re on a team. As frustrating as it can get when people make mistakes, you can’t play every position. You have to learn to trust the others and they have to learn to trust you.’ With that, Jet jumped to his feet. ‘I think I might go for a run, too. Do you want to come?’

  Jade shook her head. She wanted some time to practise her skills to make sure she’d play better in the next game. ‘I might go over some drills.’

  ‘Have fun,’ Jet said, before disappearing out the door.

  Jade spent the next hour practising her shooting. She had a ring set up in their giant backyard, which was attached to the garage above the brick courtyard. She drew a chalk outline on the cement roughly the same size as the goal circle. Then she placed six of her mum’s pot plants in an arc, so that they formed a curved line from the goal ring to the edge of the circle. The drill was called Shooting along a Curve.

  First she started at the nearest pot plant and attempted to shoot a goal. When she was happy with her success rate at the first marker, Jade moved to the second marker and started shooting again. When she was happy shooting from the second marker, she moved to the third marker and so on until she’d reached the sixth marker.

  Once she’d gone through all six markers, Jade adjusted the drill. She went back to the first pot plant and challenged herself to shoot from each marker in quick succession. If she missed a shot, she started again from the top.

  Jade was having so much fun she didn’t notice her parents and then Jet come home, or that it was getting dark.

  ‘Jade, time for dinner!’ Mum called from the back door.

  ‘Coming!’ Jade said, running inside.

  Chapter Eight

  The rest of the weekend dragged by, with Jade’s parents working on Sunday. Jade was glad when Monday rolled around so that she had school to keep her occupied.

  But then she remembered that today was her year’s first surf awareness lesson. Jade had never surfed before and was very nervous.

  What if I can’t do it? Everyone will laugh at me.

  Jade was already on the bus that would take them to the beach when she felt someone sit beside her.

  ‘Isabella!’ she gasped, surprised to see her Gems teammate. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘We’re in the same year, silly! I’m doing the surf classes too.’ Isabella grinned.

  ‘Oh, good,’ Jade said. She saw that Isabella was wearing an awesome red and yellow rashie with matching shorts. Her long hair was sun streaked and her skin was tanned. Jade, on the other hand, was wearing a tattered pair of board shorts over her black one-piece swimsuit. Her skin was pale to say the least.

  I bet Isabella’s a good surfer, Jade thought. She sure looks the part.

  ‘Have you surfed before?’ Isabella asked.

  Jade chewed her lip. ‘Um, yeah,’ she said, not wanting to look like a newbie. ‘Heaps of times.’

  ‘Great,’ Isabella said. ‘I’ve been a few times with my dad and Maia, but I’m not very good. Have you ever done Nippers?’

  ‘I don’t need to do Nippers.’ Jade tried to sound confident. ‘I’ve been swimming in the surf since I was four.’ Jade could feel herself sinking deeper and deeper into the hole she’d dug for herself. ‘Hey, did you enjoy the game on Saturday?’ she asked, trying to change the subject.

  Isabella nodded. ‘It was fun.’

  ‘I know we lost,’ Jade said, ‘but we can still make it to the grand final. How do you reckon we’ll go against Barton this week?’

  ‘It’s not going to be easy. We’ve lost one and drawn one against them.’ She pulled a funny face then laughed. ‘It could go either way.’

  ‘Yeah, I think you’re right.’

  The girls spent the rest of the trip reliving the best games and plays of the season. Jade was amazed at how many details Isabella could recall. She practically remembered every goal any of the Gems ever shot!

  ‘You really love playing for the Gems, don’t you?’ Jade said.

  ‘Don’t you?’ Isabella asked. ‘It’s the best! Who’s your favourite Diamonds player?’

  ‘Definitely Erin Bell,’ Jade said.

  ‘I like her, too,’ Isabella replied.

  ‘Did you know she once shot 33 goals in one game during the Netball World Cup? She’s one of our best long-range shooters ever!’

  The
bus jerked to a stop and Jade glanced out the window. She’d been so engrossed chatting about netball and Erin Bell, she hadn’t realised they’d arrived at the beach.

  I can’t believe how much fun it is to talk to Isabella, she thought.

  Isabella stood up. ‘Are you coming?’

  Jade laughed, gulping down her fears. ‘Try to hold me back!’ she said, as she followed Isabella into the throng.

  Once they reached the sand, the surf instructor asked them to get into pairs.

  Isabella turned to Jade. ‘Shall we pair up?’

  Jade was shocked. Isabella was popular and could have picked anyone, but she’d picked her!

  ‘Sure,’ Jade said.

  ‘Now, I want one person to stand on the board, feet apart and arms out,’ the instructor said. ‘The other person is to get down at the back of the board and gently move it left and right to mimic the movements of a wave. The person standing on the board should work hard to maintain their balance. I’ll come around and check everyone’s stances.’

  ‘You go first,’ Isabella told Jade.

  Jade stood on the board and pretended to surf while Isabella moved the board about.

  ‘Hey, this is fun!’ She crowed happily. ‘I’m going to blitz surfing!’

  Chapter Nine

  ‘Jade, you’re always so confident.’ Isabella shook her head. ‘I wish I was like you.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Isabella replied. ‘You always believe in yourself. Like at netball. You believe in your netball abilities. And you back yourself to take tricky shots at goal. I’m glad you’re on our team.’

  ‘Even though …’ Jade stopped herself just in time.

  ‘Even though what?’

  ‘You don’t think I’m bossy?’

  ‘Maybe just a little.’ Isabella laughed as she held her finger and thumb a few centimetres apart.

  ‘I just don’t like losing,’ Jade said.

  ‘Well, no one really wants to lose, do they?’

  ‘I’d never thought about it that way …’ Jade said. ‘My dad says that sport and life are all about winning.’