2020/21 Season Review

As the 2020/21 season comes to an end, we look back on some of the highlights of the year.

TERM 1: September to December 2020

The season got off to a great start. Although COVID restrictions meant there was no adult netball, our junior membership was as high as ever with many new players joining the club. We were able to organise match play events against Jura, Meinier and Le Rosey. We also ran a first aid course in partnership with Emergency First Response, which was attended by several AGNA players, coaches and officials.

In October, five of our older members participated in Swiss Netball’s Under 17s trials. Three were successfully selected for the long squad and the other two were invited back to be seen again, although subsequent trial dates unfortunately had to be cancelled due to COVID restrictions. We’re very proud of all our girls who took part.

Then, at the end of October, the Swiss government placed restrictions on contact sport and we were forced to cancel the last six training sessions of term 1. Swiss Netball’s Junior Clubs Tournament and Peppermill Challenge Tournament were also cancelled.

Undeterred, we moved our activities online. Marney ran a series of Zoom fitness sessions and arranged for Tim Waters of Yoga Moves Nyon to do an online yoga session for our members.  In November, Marney used her contacts in Australia to set up a Zoom Q&A session with Australian and Sunshine Coast Lightening player Stephanie Wood, which proved to be extremely interesting and motivational.

Also in November, Marney encouraged our girls to complete a fitness challenge. The Under 11s participated in a 30 day squats challenge and the Under 13s/15s/17s/19s took part in the ‘Flying 40s’ challenge.

In December, we created an online advent calendar which appeared every day on AGNA’s website and social media accounts. This incorporated a daily fitness or seasonal challenge to keep us all active at home. Finally, we rounded off the term with a fun Christmas Zoom quiz and an AGNA Christmas card featuring photos of some of our members.

TERM 2: January to March 2021

On the 14th January we were delighted to be able to restart training for everyone under 16. We introduced the new Team Snap app to make it easier for our coaches to communicate with members and to help everyone keep track of training sessions and other events.

February brought another round of fitness challenges: this time, to raise money for local charity, Zoé4Life. The Under 11s took on a sponsored 10,000 steps challenge and the Under 13s/15s/17s did a sponsored abs challenge. Even AGNA’s coaches, umpires and Committee got involved.  Overall, we raised an impressive CHF 2,300 for the charity. Well done everyone!

In March, our over 16s were finally able to return to training. Meanwhile, our younger girls got some valuable match practice with other clubs at two Swiss Netball events in Geneva: a scratch play at Institute International de Lancy and a match play at Centre Sportif du Bois-des-Frères.

TERM 3: April to June 2021

Keen to make up for training time lost during the COVID disruption, AGNA organised as much netball as possible for our members during term 3.  The regular Thursday night training session was extended for our older girls and we ran four Monday night social netball sessions in Etoy, open to anyone aged 12-19, which focused solely on match play. AGNA hosted a match play event with Jura and Les Citrons Verts in Etoy and also participated in a GGNA hosted match play event in Troinex.

Following the loss of our outdoor netball court in Rolle last year, two AGNA members – Bronwyn McGinity (AGNA’s head umpire) and Saskia Van Hal (AGNA mum) – approached Etoy Commune with a proposal to mark an outdoor court on the site of their current outdoor basketball court.  Bronwyn and Saskia did an amazing job introducing the commune to the sport, gaining their interest and support for the sport, putting forward a detailed proposal, and successfully obtaining approval. In April, all their hard work paid off and the new outdoor court was marked.

To celebrate the new outdoor court, we decided to hold our last training session of the season there. A fantastic time was had by all the in sunshine, enjoying crêpes, water games and, of course, netball.

A huge thank you to our all members, parents, coaches, umpires and volunteers who make AGNA a club we can all be proud of. We look forward to seeing you again next season!