Netball
Malaysian Tour
2007
Before dawn on the 9th of July 2007,
16 excited girls and two slightly anxious
teachers set off for Johannesburg for
their flight to Singapore. The amazing,
individual in-flight entertainment ensured
that we arrived in Singapore, tired
and somewhat jet-lagged. We were whisked
off to a city tour, during which we
had our first taste of STARBUCKS Coffee,
which was to be the staple drink for
the duration of the tour.
Our
first Netball match was played against
Singapore’s National U17 teams
in an impressive air-conditioned hall
with wooden sprung floors. The Singaporean
teams were impressive and showed amazing
speed and ball skills and our tired
girls were outclassed. With each subsequent
game as we travelled through Malaysia,
however, our girls’ netball skills
and teamwork improved considerably.
The First Team won five of their seven
matches and the Second Team three of
their seven. These results are excellent
considering that each match was played
against the top school netball team
of their province.
The
most memorable games were against a
girls’ school in Ipoh, who are
the national champions of Malaysia.
Our girls played excellent netball in
very hot and humid conditions and the
First Team went down 14 -21 and the
Seconds 16-28 in tightly contested games.
After the game we were invited to a
reception held in our honour where we
were treated to a delicious lunch, entertained
by local Malaysian dancers and we all
had an opportunity to interact and learn
about each other’s cultures.
In
addition to playing netball, we also
had a wonderful opportunity to go to
the beach, walk through the local towns,
try some oriental dishes, shop, taste
and enjoy the local fruit, learn about
the local culture and enjoy many scenic
tours.
We
are extremely proud of the way the girls
conducted themselves as they were true
ambassadors of Uplands College. We were
also proud to be part of this tour and
all had a wonderful time.
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