Netball in Oz!

Kayleigh Higson is currently on a Sport Lived netball programme in Sydney and describes it as, “A once in a lifetime experience.  It’s has all been great with no downside”.

Kayleigh is playing for one of Sydney’s top clubs who have 3 state league teams who play in the strongest netball competition in Sydney and 9 social sides who play in a local netball competition.  After performing well during pre-season training Kayleigh was selected for her club’s State League Division 2 Team with whom she has played all season. Kayleigh has thoroughly enjoyed the excellent netball coaching and tuition she has received at her club.  ‘The training sessions and coaching we’ve received have been fantastic.  I really enjoyed pre-season training particularly the fitness testing and skill work and I felt really well prepared when the season started after Easter’. Kayleigh’s team are currently 5th and have an excellent chance of making the end of season Grand Finals which start in August.

Although Kayleigh has been playing matches and training with her club 2-3 times a week she’s found plenty of time to enjoy Sydney’s legendary nightlife. The weather and the relaxed attitude of the Australians guarantees lots of fantastic nights out. Something the girls have really noticed is the difference between the British and Australian way of life, ‘The lifestyle over here is just amazing. Nothing that you can even imagine. Everyone is just so laid back and easy going. It’s such a change from back home!’

Whilst in Sydney Kayleigh has been staying in 4 star city centre apartments with other Sport Lived participants.  Commenting on her accommodation, Kayleigh said, “we are right in the middle of everything. The Central Train station is a 2 minute walk away and you can get to all the main beaches within 20 minutes by public transport. There is also a great nightlife over here, which again is only a few minutes walk away form the accommodation. So only a short way to stagger home at the end of the night!”

She has praised the Sport Lived mentors who have been very supportive at every juncture. She told us that they ‘are great people and are always there when we have a problem or just need a chat.’

Kayleigh is having the time of her life living in Sydney and would thoroughly recommend the programme to other young people  ‘I’m having a fantastic time playing netball in Sydney and it is definitely something I would recommend to anyone who loves sport and wants to have a great time playing and coaching it overseas’.

Hockey Tour to Albury

Over the Easter weekend, Sport Lived participants playing hockey in Sydney went on a pre-season tour with their club to Albury, a small city located on the border between New South Wales and Victoria. 

Hockey match during the Albury Hockey Carnival

During the 4 day trip the club played matches against other teams from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The tour provided a great opportunity for players to impress before the start of the league season.  It also gave the Sport Lived players an opportunity to let their hair down, have some fun and get to know their new team mates. 

Fancy Dress Party at Albury

All of the players thoroughly enjoyed the trip which provided a great start to their hockey programme.

Joe Carr – Water Polo in Australia

Joe Carr chose Sydney as his Sport Lived destination, and joined the thousands of people worldwide who would crown the city as one of the most vibrant, thrilling and versatile places on earth: “Sydney was unbelievable! I fell in love with it, without a doubt, and it broke my heart coming back.” Sydney’s idyllic location on the east coast of Australia blessed with a gorgeous climate and an even more stunning harbour, the vista of which includes the Sydney Opera House and The Harbour Bridge, together composing one of the most famous postcard pictures in the world. Joe’s accommodation was well-placed to ensure he could make the most of the city’s social and cultural scenes: “Our apartments were indescribably good. I can’t tell you how much of a difference it made and how invaluable it was living right in the centre of Sydney. The accommodation itself was great (the sauna was very, very well used!), but the real advantage was the location. It really made the whole experience.”

Joe Carr with his team mates in Sydney

Joe played water polo for a club in Sydney between March and August and felt the experience of playing in Australia was great for his development: “In terms of what the Australian league has given my game, I think it has made me a far more intelligent player than I ever was before. For the first time, I started to think my way through games and this is something I have definitely taken back with me. While I was there and when I first returned I was probably the physically strongest I have ever been as a player. The Australians are much bigger and play a much more physical game than in England, and as a consequence I find myself playing a strong game.” Sport Lived were able to offer Joe an extremely high standard of play for his sport, which was one of his favourite aspects of the entire experience: “We had an amazing team, equal to probably 1st or 2nd division National league in England, which I became an important part of, playing with and against on a regular basis some great players. I feel that I learned more playing with them for six months than in the previous three years playing national league in England.”

 

Joe and Sam Hiscock with Dr Karl

Sport Lived tailor their trips to individual requirements, and the recurring advice from those who take the plunge appears to be that you get out just as a much as you put in: “If you decide to do it I would say, whatever you do, be brave. Stick with it. Go out and find the people and social life that you want, enjoy the city to its fullest, don’t get into lazy habits of just staying in and doing the same thing over and over. It is a perfect chance to carve out the lifestyle you want, whatever kind of person you are and whatever you’re into. Australia is one of the best places to live in the world so get involved in everything you can and don’t waste what is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Representative Hockey Selections in Sydney

Congratulations to Matt Davey and Hannah Baker who were both selected to represent their hockey association at the Men’s and Women’s New South Wales State Championships.  Both players were nominated for the teams after performing well for their club’s first grade team this season.  Matt represented the Sydney Hockey Association whilst Hannah represented MacArthur.

Matt Davey (top row, 3rd from the right)

 

Each hockey association in NSW are represented at the Championships which were held over the long weekend in Sydney (7th/8th June).  The Men’s Championships were held in Grafton whilst the Women’s Championships were held in Tamworth. 

Hannah’s MacArthur team were knocked out at the group stage.  However in the Men’s competition, despite losing 9-3 to Illawarra in the group stage, the Sydney Hockey Association qualified for the semi final where they beat Newcastle.  In the final they got revenge over Illawarra beating them 5-2 to win the Championship. 

Commenting on the event Matt said “It was a thoroughly enjoyable weekend getting the opportunity to play with and against the state’s best players.  The final was great and it was fantastic that we won!”

Well done to Matt and Hannah!

Scotland U21 Selection

Congratulations to Tom Blyth who has been selected for the Scotland U21 Hockey Squad. Tom is currently studying at Loughborough University and went on a Sport Lived Hockey Programme to Sydney between March and August 2007. Looking back on his Sport Lived programme Tom said “I enjoyed a once in a lifetime opportunity to play against some of the best players in the world and also meet some great people during my time in Sydney. My game improved tremendously and I would encourage any young person to play hockey in Australia. It’s great for your hockey and it’s also a lot of fun!”

We wish Tom the best of luck for this Summer’s Euro Nations Tournament being held in Spain and the Celtic Cup taking place in August.