The Netball Show
S7 Ep78: Out The Box Sports (24th Oct 2024)
[MUSIC PLAYING] Hi, this is Nat Meckoff. Flyhawk have developed a unique 3D kit designer that's fully customizable. So if you're looking for a new kit for your team for the new season, visit flyhawk.com or email info@flyhawk.com with your ideas now. Nation player is the easy to use, one-stop radio and audio app. Download Nation player now on the Apple App Store or Google Play. Nation player, where on are you? The netball show with Flyhawk. Raising the bar for netball and women's sports. [MUSIC PLAYING] It's a netball show with Flyhawk. Somebody joins us now that we haven't spoken to for an absolute-age George Fisher. First up, George, how was your honeymoon? Because the pictures looked absolutely amazing. It was awesome to be fair. It was a very picturesque wedding and Bali's a very special place to both of us. So it was awesome to have all our favourite people in one place. And then afterwards, we went on like a two-week holiday around Bali, and we did all our favourite things. We did like quadding, and we went diving for a week, and it was just perfect. It was really, really beautiful. And then I've come back to England, and he is still in New Zealand at the moment. So we've gone straight into long distance, which isn't super fun. Obviously comes with its challenges. But yeah, no, the wedding was beautiful, and then the honeymoon was just as beautiful. Great having you back in the country as well. Out-the-box sport, obviously, was starting to give everybody access to quality coaching from Newam Bridge and as well. So why was the time right to start something like this now? I think that obviously having a knee injury and kind of looking at not playing, I had like a hand in watching the game from a different perspective, which is kind of like, you know, I'm on the bench, and I'm like, "Is that next to some awesome coaches?" And I was like, "This is super interesting." And I guess like with such a long rehab process, it was something that I started doing more and more of. And then when I got back to England, I was like, "Yeah, I want to try and get into this a little bit more." So, and Braden has always loved coaching. So I was like, "Let's see if like there's sort of even any interest out there." I think we were on one of our very long drives back from somewhere. I think it was Manchester, he had a game up there, and we was driving back and I was like, "What do you think about this? I love it, you love it." And he was like, "Yeah, okay." And he does graphic design. So he was just like throwing some logos together. And he was like, "Let's just see if like anyone kind of is interested." And then we did a three-week shooting masterclass and we got quite a lot of interest. And I was like, "Okay, this is really cool." And it's nice to be able to give my knowledge. So like all players, you get coached by some of the best coaches in the world. And then I can hopefully take that in, have my own spin and then give back to the younger generation that they get to take with them. Were you surprised for the initial demand? I was a little bit surprised. It's crazy because you step up on call in front of thousands of people and you don't buy an eyelid, but like I put that first Instagram post up and I was so nervous, I'd never been more nervous. I was like, "I don't want it to fail." But I suppose anything worth having is, you know, a risk most of the time, or like it's hard to get hold of. So yeah, I was super nervous. And I was a bit, I was like pleasantly surprised. I was like, "No one's going to come." I was like, "At least if I get 10 people, 10 people will be fine. I had a cut off of around like I think 25." And then it got four when I was like, "Oh my gosh, it's super amazing." So yeah, it felt pretty awesome. Incredible satisfaction as well. You must get from running these camps as well, just personal skills. Definitely like, I love running the camps and getting to meet new people and sort of, you know, like you see girls and you can sometimes be like, "Oh, you should try and get into a club or, you know, have a good chat." I also do like one-to-ones and I was working with two girls. And then when I went back to New Zealand, I got a text saying that she'd got into county and then her friend was doing really well and she's going to like, paying in a higher like division. And that's awesome. It's like, okay, these girls obviously love netball and they're passionate about it. And then you can try and help them, you know, they're putting in the extras. They're doing the extra work. And then you start to see them succeeding. It's like such a proud feeling. And I'm like, all the girls that I coach, I'm so proud of them. Like when they start to nail it, it's like, yeah, you're doing an air punch, like you should feel that proud of them. You must have had opportunities to attend netball camps when you were maybe younger. Run by the likes of Nader and Sasha? I'll be completely honest with you. My route into netball was quite a whirlwind. And it was, I think I only really did like one or two Taranford camps. Just because we didn't really know back then what was out there. And I think you mentioned Nader and was it Sasha? But I joined Mavericks when I was like, real young. I think I was like 13, 14 and I'm doing like morning training with them and stuff like that. So I think it all kind of went over my head a little bit. But finally enough, I sat talking to Nader the other day. And she is like such a passionate, passionate person and passionate coach. And like, it would have been amazing to actually have gone to camps, run by her. And you can see how much she cares. The same as Sasha, she's super, all the girls that do coach are not always super passionate about it. I guess you don't go into that unless you really want to give back and like you really want to give your knowledge. So yeah, I wish I had gone to them. Unfortunately not. Would be nice. Yeah, it would have been awesome. I just did sort of the Taranford ones. And then I was a swimmer at the time. So I was busy every weekend, like all week. Have a brother as well that probably wouldn't have appreciated me being buried off. And we would have been bored because obviously I'm a great sister. So tell me a bit about your camps that you're going to be running in a ghost field. Then what's involved? Who is the ideally for? Yeah, I'm running in two camps in October. So I'm doing my first camp at Dunota school. And that's on like the 28th and the 29th. And then I'm over at Gossfield school, which is Essex way. And then I'm doing that on the 31st of October and in the 1st of November. And so the first days are aimed at younger kids. So sort of years five, two years, seven, eight, and then the second day is sort of like year eight, nine, up to sort of sixth form. So they aimed at a big range of kids, not just kids that go to the school, obviously, all sorts of people that want to come through and kind of test the waters. We'll do anything. So the first day is probably just a little bit more of passing, throwing, netball skills, that sort of stuff. And then the second day with the older girls is probably just building on that. So we'll probably do some into passes, some changes and roles, how to get free. Yeah. And hopefully we'll try and get some cool coaches in, try to pull in the favours from my friends. Oh, Fran, you fancy coming through to do some coaching? And then Razz will stop taking my calls now, so, no, but they're awesome. So you can pull in the favours from your friends, which is cool. But yeah, it's awesome to have the girls in and you know, you're given some of them that potentially maybe school level may be looking to get into clubs or even at clubs that are looking to try and pursue a little bit more. You know, they come through and they can learn the little techniques, like tips and tricks that they can take away with them. I guess the masterclass is more about personal growth, whereas obviously then one to ones and stuff like that might be a little bit more like what you specifically need to work on. So in the masterclass is your learning. Great things, obviously. You've represented England at the highest level, nothing comes close. So would it be something that you'd potentially be open to again? I want nothing more than to get back in the red dress, believe me. I've actually had a really, really, really tough ride with my knee and England have supported me massively through the whole process. I'm still not playing now. Which is crazy to think that it was like two years ago, I did my ACL and I come just sort of, you know, like they say that rehab is not like a flat ride, you know, back to court and mine's just been up, down, down, down, down, up a little bit more, they're down a bit more and it's been kind of crazy. And you know, we have looked at like the potential of I really want to play again, will my knee let me play again? So yeah, I want to get back on the call. I want to get back on the call. I want to get back on the call. I want to get back in the red dress like to no end. It's just whether my body is going to let me at this point. So I feel supported by England and I've got some really awesome, awesome people around me that, you know, really rooting for me. And I'm working with Ros who used to be the old England physio and she's, yeah, so because obviously Snowy's off on tour, treating all the girls recently. So I've been with Ros and it's been amazing and we started to make some really good progress. So yeah, I'm hoping that I get there and I really want to, it's whether my body lets make this stage. A lot of people will be really happy with that answer. So thank you. Even from afar, have you been keeping an eye on Nepal Super League of the changes? I have been, I have been keeping an eye on them sort of as much as I can. I probably should know more than I do about it, but it's been a whirlwind of a time recently, obviously the whole marriage has taken up a big block of my body. But yeah, no, I have obviously netball nerd over here. I have, I think it's super interesting for sure. So finally just direct everybody to out the box on Facebook, really get involved with the camps and let's be honest, really going to enjoy them. Yeah, that's the plan. The netball show is now also available via SkyQ and Sky Glass. Select Sport and we're on the Podcasts Rail. (logo whooshing)
As George runs some camps over half-term we also get the latest on if putting on the red dress again is something she's still aspiring to do