BSN Blitz - Netball

Joining BSN Blitz - Netball... non-contact and boring, I think not! 

Previously I had always been working at the same time as studying so found it hard to fit any other things into what little spare time I had. After speaking to Tobi Iyola and Tamara Heslop at one of the BSN balls I decided it was time to get more actively involved with the BSN. 

A few weeks later I received an  email from the aptly named BSN Blitz netball team-captain Okaci Kejeh welcoming me to the team and encouraging everybody to shake off the Christmas excess and get back on the court to play in the forthcoming match. 

As a regular netball player I thought I'd turn up to the match, play and go home - silly me. On arriving at the venue, on time rather than early, I was met outside by very bubbly and enthusiastic Okachi. She explained to me we were playing Speed-Net! With dread I explained that I had never played Speed-Net and as she thrust the bib into my hands and I attempted to take off my outside clothing, she ran through the rules faster than a voice-over explaining T&C's at the end of an advert. I hadnt heard a word she said which must have been clear on my face because Okachi and the other BSN Blitz'ers' reassured me that I would have fun. 

Feeling slightly more at ease I ran on the court and the whistle was blown. My opponent went from a smiling Goal Shooter to an attacking machine instantly! I could see I was playing against someone in the legal field! Fierce and determined. 

Speed-Net is a face paced game of netball and is also referred to by some as Round-Robin. Players start off in one position and move to the next sequential position each time their team scores a goal. You need be fully alert, be able to play as a team and above all be versatile as you are contantly changing positions, so long as your team are able to shoot that is. Its not called SPEED-net for nothing, if you weren't fit at the begining you will see your fitness improve quickly! After just half an hour of playing I felt as if I had played a full match. 

I was playing with and against professinal women most of whom are in the legal profession. As a recent law school graduate working in the City I found that Speed-Net was a great environment to get to know other professionals and realise that they are actually human too. I know it sounds silly but working in the City I had begun to wonder whether there were any down to earth people or if I was now to work with stiff women lacking real character for the rest of my life. Playing with BSN Blitz has shown me yet another side to the legal world and has proved the talent and versatility of women within the legal profession. 

Jamie Tavares 

Paralegal