Taking Netball to Bangladesh

While on Sunday in Australia, Melbourne Vixens beat Queensland Firebirds in ANZ championship title at Hisense Arena, Nayana Pardeshi from Naz India Goal was teaching the same sport to 70 girls in Bangladesh. Most of us are unfamiliar with Melbourne Vixens and Queensland Firebirds, they are the netball teams from Australian Netball league, as for Naz India Goal represents a programme under NGO Naz India that uses netball and life skills education to transform the lives of young underprivileged girls in India, on and off the court.

Nayana Pardeshi who along with being a Gold Award participant also holds the post of Programme Assistant and Coach for Naz India Goal in partnership with BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) travelled to Bangladesh to teach girls from a village near Sylhet and thereby providing them with a platform to transform their own lives like Nayana herself has done in past 4-5 years. Below is the description of her Residential Project in her own words:

First day of the project was spent introducing the sport to the participants; this was followed by teaching them the technique of chest pass. This was done through a training drill known as ‘5 point play skill of Netball.’

Before we started the second day, a quick revision of the previous day was done by asking questions related to the basics of Netball and chest passing. Later the girls were taught the techniques of two foot landing & pivot and were given enough practice time to enhance their skills. Next the girls along with cones and chalk powder made their own netball court and were then positioned at their respective position. After which they were suppose to practice the skills they had learnt till now in a real time situation and were also introduced to shoulder pass.

Day three involved shooting practice, this practice was done using newly fitted bamboo poles. After an hour of shooting practice the participants were introduced to two new forms of passes i.e. high pass and lob pass. These two passes are considered extremely important skills when it comes to winning netball matches. The day ended with a demonstration match played by the trainers from BRAC and I also captained one of the sides.

Day four was there just to revise everything we learnt in past three days and this was done by playing Kaun Banega Crorepati based on Netball rules. 

For me it was an experience that I will never forget and I am happy to say I not only brought about a change in their community but also made new friends.