Becky due to play indoor netball for England

Good luck to Colston’s student teacher Becky Green and her brother Chris who are both heading to South Africa to represent England in a Tri Nations indoor netball tournament next week.

Becky (24), who is on the Colston’s PE staff this year, has been selected to play for a 7-a-side mixed team against South Africa and Australia.

Chris (20) will play in a 6-a-side men’s team against the same nations. When he isn’t playing netball he is part of the American Football Academy based at Filton.

“Indoor netball has its origins in South Africa,” Becky explained. “The court is surrounded on each side and overhead by a net which prevents the ball from leaving the playing area.

“This obviously reduces the number of stoppages and makes it a faster game than traditional netball.”

It promises to be a great experience for them both. Whatever the outcome, Becky will return to continue her good work in building netball success at Colston’s – in the traditional game.

Indoor netball is a variation of netball, played exclusively indoors, in which the playing court is surrounded on each side and overhead by a net. The net prevents the ball from leaving the court, reducing the number of playing stoppages. This gives indoor netball a faster pace than netball.

There are two main types of indoor netball, "6-a-side" and "7-a-side". Indoor netball has a larger focus towards mixed-gender matches than netball does, although ladies' games, and to a smaller extent men's games, are ever-present. While the sport does not have as large a following as netball does, its popularity is growing in countries such as England, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.