The Netball Show
S7 Ep42: NWC 5 Year Ani : Britt Carter (20th July 2024)
(upbeat music) - Daisy Frances Bateman here. I'm really proud to be an ambassador for Flyhawk, leading the way for Netball and Women's Sport. Flyhawk design and make netball dresses, have netball kit and netball team wear. Netballs plus much, much more. Head to Flyhawk.com. - The netball show with Flyhawk. Raising the bar for Netball and Women's Sport. - Netball show with Flyhawk. Looking back at five years since a netball World Cup was held in Liverpool. Somebody that was there was Brett Carter from the net life and ABC. Brett, a special set of podcasts. So I suppose the first question is, what do you remember most about it? - I just loved Liverpool. I've been to three netball World Cups during my time as a reporter. And I think Liverpool was probably the best in terms of what it offered fans. I loved that they had the two courts set up during the regular rounds. And I just thought it was really well run World Cup. The fan engagement was amazing in all the little zones they had outside with the activities. And then obviously we had a cracking couple of semi final matches and then a great grand final match too. So yeah, I look back on Liverpool with really fun memories, even though the Aussies dropped that final match and gave it over to the Kiwis. That was pretty heartbreaking. And I have some sad moments from that particular match, but the rest of it, yeah, really fun memories. - And I wish I knew you then, because can you imagine if we got Sarah Cloud, Shani and Gretel along and do all the Beatles, touristy things that would have ruled? - I agree with you. Yeah, that would have been awesome. And I don't know how we didn't cross paths at that point because we were all down in that mixed media zone, weren't we? It was like a little bomb shelter underneath the, the stadium we were tucked away underneath. And it was different in Cape Town because you'd walk into the stadium and then you would go up to the media center. But in Liverpool, we were tucked away down in this dark, dirt, grungy spot. So yeah, in the back of the stadium. So yeah, in very, very different experience. I don't know how we didn't cross paths. - We'll hear from Lisa in the causes next fortnight about just that team selection as a whole. But do you think that she took a bit of a risk by including the likes of Jim Lee Price and Sarah Cloud who had limited experience at these big tournaments? - I don't, yeah, I don't think so because when I look back at that time, I mean, we lost by one goal. And I think sometimes we forget how close it was because Lisa obviously parted ways with the diamonds after that, after almost a decade leading the side, they decided after we'd lost the Commonwealth Games by one goal and then also the World Cup by one goal that it was time for a fresh start. But they were so tight. So I think sometimes when I look back, I think we were really critical at the time of that game but it was really, really, really tight. And look what those players are doing now. Like that loss set them up in a really good place for the next World Cup. So we still had some really experienced heads in the team at the time. So yeah, I probably wouldn't change anything about the side looking back. It was just that we couldn't avoid the whistle in the final couple of minutes against a very experienced Kiwi side. And I think there's a lot that I connect to the 2019 World Cup with Supernepo because Supernepo have begun just two years earlier. It was the first time that we'd come up against the Kiwis in a final like that when we hadn't been playing in the week and week out. New Zealand were a real unknown for us at that tournament. And I think they snuck onto the radar because of that. We had so many South Africans playing in our league at the time. We had Bongi, Palmsa, Carla, Pretorious, Lenny's, Shadine, Van Damova in Marie Venter. Like, I know that she didn't actually make this South African team for the tournament but she was still playing in Supernepo at the time. And we had heaps of English players here in Australia too playing, Nat Metcalf, Helen Housby, Joe Hart, and Juvermentor, Chelsea Pittman, Leila Gaskoff. Like, so we knew those players well, but that also went against us in some ways because they knew us really well. So yeah, I mean, that semi-final against South Africa was a cracking game too. And to see them reach the top floor and that tournament was an amazing moment knowing they had Cape Town locked in for the next tournament venue. But yeah, I mean, yeah, as I said, for memories and it was heartbreaking. Like, I think what I remember as the pivotal moment of that tournament was after we'd lost the game, I went down to the mix zone and I was speaking with Kelsey Brown and she was just crying, like so upset, devastated. And we finished the interview and I said, do you mind if I just give you a hug? Would that be inappropriate? And she really appreciated it and we just had a hug and had a little cry and then we got on with it. So yeah, I know how devastated the diamonds were after that loss and look at field them towards the 16th World Cup win in Cape Town. So I still think overall it was a pretty fantastic tournament. - Yeah, special memories, things like that. There was no whales, obviously they're filled to qualify, but what did you make of Scotland, England? And obviously that opening game of the whole tournament was Dan Ryan, Nippon Northern Ireland. - Yeah, I know, it's weird doesn't that looking back because you kind of forget some of these things did happen. I actually really loved the African teams in this tournament. For the first time at that tournament four African teams made the top eight and we saw Zimbabwe in their debut tournament. They just brought so much color and life to Liverpool and I think they really captured a lot of people's hearts because their fans were just up and about and so engaged during the games they were singing, they were dancing and when we had the two courts going at once, you might be watching the diamonds on one court and Zimbabwe on the other. And it was kind of hard to concentrate on the diamonds. - You could certainly hear them, couldn't you? - Yeah, you could hear them and you wanted to be part of it and getting excited with them. So yeah, there's some of the things that I remember from it and it's just crazy to look back at how fun Nepal has come since then because we didn't have rolling subs in play in our league at that point. So it was a very different approach to international Nepal than what we see now because some of the rule changes that we have in our domestic league here in Super Nepal weren't in place, there was no super shot. We didn't have these kinds of things. So yeah, it's interesting looking back and seeing how much the sport has changed and yet it's only been five years. - Those were the days, weren't they? Finally, Sydney next, 100 years anniversary and that's gonna be a special moment, isn't it? - We can expect big things and what makes me so excited for it is that in Super Nepal this year, we're seeing booming crowds, like records broken almost every week, membership records broken. So I'm hoping that we can build the crowds even more in the next couple of years before we host that Nepal World Cup in Sydney and just get a bit more government support, attract some more sponsorship and really put the sport in a place it hasn't been before, like take it to new heights and then host that World Cup and hopefully get some kind of traction in the way that the Matilda's did throughout the FIFA Women's World Cup here last year because they just captured the attention of our nation and have really inspired a whole wave of support for women's sport across the board. So I'm hoping the diamonds can do that, knowing the success they've had at this tournament, how dominant they have been throughout history. And yeah, I just want Nepal to get as much recognition. So I hope we can get to that point. - Thanks for sharing your memories first. - Yeah, sounds good. The net will show is now also available via Sky HD, Sky Q and Sky Glass. So let's get and we're on the podcast trail. (logo whooshing)
Britt Carter was at the Netball World Cup in 2019 covering the tournament for ABC