New York Netball

Seems we've finally hit the big time! Our lives will never be the same again. We'll be unable to walk down the street without being mobbed by crazed fans!!

The New York Times did a feature on our friends at CANA, which gives a great sense of the importance of netball to communities of women in Brooklyn. Read and watch here.

Women's Sports and Entertainment Network came along to our 10th Anniversary Tournament in August 2010 to learn more about the game. They caught the final between Upsetters and Floridians. Check out the video here.

Time Out New York gave our 10th Anniversary Tournament a plug in their Own This City section. Check it out here.

Netball recently featured in The Economist. Very good press for our beloved sport, read here for more on the interesting story out of India...

MINC featured on NY1 News just before the inaugural MINC tournament. See our story and the video here...

This short Time Out NY article ran the week before our tournament.

The New York Post wisely decided to run an article on sports in Manhattan and featured netball (and more importantly MINC) in the report. The article ran on Saturday June 26th and as soon as I scan it you'll be able to see it here!

The Australian Consulate has also realised just how newsworthy we are, and has published an article about us in their monthly newsletter. Thanks to Aussie Bec Smith for the "in" on that one! Click here for the article.

Click to read Liz Todd's netball article as published in the East side ''Our Town" paper and in the West Side Spirit.

Recently we were approached by Dan Macht who is a student studying journalism at the City University, New York's Graduate School of Journalism. He tells a good story of why we continue to play this game so far away from our homes and why we have Netball passion! Dan spent a couple of evenings at our training sessions and then followed us to our first NYC tournament of the season. Read here for more on "our" story... Thanks to Dan for taking an interest.

Aaaand.... We're back! Training for 2012 is on! Watch this space for details of the venue for our Thursday night training sessions:

Thursday May 17—8.30-10.30pm
Wagner School (E 76th between 2nd and 3rd)

All new members are welcome to come along to a session early in the New Year to find out what we're all about; in the meantime, you can email the committee if you have questions.

MINC's Annual General Meeting was a great opportunity for existing and prospective members of MINC to get together and discuss the business side of netball. We reflected on the year that was, with reports presented by each of the committee members; and looked ahead to 2011 by outlining the club's tournament schedule, training plans and budget. (Note that reports are available should you wish to review them—speak to Caroline to arrange copies.) A new committee was voted in, and we're confident that the excellent standard of leadership will continue with our new committee members.

With the formalities sorted, we adjourned to O’Connelly’s Pub to catch up on the gossip and happenings of the winter break, and meet some of the prospective MINCers. Here's cheers to a great year of netball in 2011!

May 19th- Crusaders- New York
June 2nd- CANA Open Rally - Brooklyn NY
June 23rd,24th- USANA Nationals - Florida
June-August- CANA League-Brooklyn NY
July- New Horizon Tournament- Hartford
September 8th- Volcanos Rally- Brooklyn
September 15th- Solidarity Rally- Hartford Connecticut
October- Winners Tournament Fort Lauderdale

A big thanks to everyone who came and supported the club. It was a great turnout, and we're off to an excellent start for this year's fundraising (so important to the health of the club!).

Thanks also to everyone who donated prizes for the quiz and the raffle—there was an impressive array of loot up for grabs this year, and we really appreciate people pitching in. Check out more photos from the event!

It takes more than drizzle and a chilly wind to dampen the spirits of the MINC girls. We turned out in force for the Crusaders' annual tournament in Brooklyn on May 14. Three full teams ran the courts of the Harry Maze Memorial Park, and we had a terrific day all round.

Highlights? Playing on real netball courts again! It had been a while for some of us. Also, oranges! Thanks to Crusaders for providing that sustenance—a well-loved netball tradition that harks back to our earliest netty memories.

Yes, this year's MINC Pub Quiz was another crowd-pleasing, head-scratching, brain-teazing, laugh-inducing success. Quizmeister Adam ran the night like a pro (thanks Adam!), and the social committee did a super job with planning, right down to the balloons, oranges, and red-herring questions.

Congratulations to team "In Your Face", who took out top spot in a late comeback. In our face, indeed. It was a well-deserved win.

They're coming thick and fast this year! With such a healthy club, we've been able to send teams to lots of tournaments across New York and North America in 2011. And the summer season is just beginning!

We've recently had great days of competition in Montreal, Brooklyn, San Diego, Queens, Connecticut, Connecticut again, Brooklyn again, and Toronto. Click through for some match reports and photos...

The blood, sweat and tears paid off for the East Coast Jaguars on Saturday July 30 at the Prudential Center in New Jersey. The Jags took out the East Coast Firehawks in a sensational smackdown match, convincingly nailing it with a final score of 26-21.

The Firehawks didn't go down without a fight, though. The team of players from Maryland, New York, DC, Jersey and Connecticut brought some serious competition and pushed the Jags to their limit. All in all, it was a brilliant display of netball at the New York Liberty v. Phoenix Mercury game, and all the players gave the basketball fans the best possible showing of competitive netball.

Thanks to our Captain and Vice Captain, Christine and Lisa, who guided and pushed the girls to new levels. And huge thanks go out to Coach Tess, who worked tirelessly to bring the best out of the Jaguars as individual players and as a team, over weeks and weeks. Thanks to Lisa P for all of her managerial skills—she kept the team on track and organized, dealing with every issue and covering every detail. Thanks to Alex for his sandwich-making, driving and photography skills on the day, and to Gemma and Caroline from the MINC committee for all of their support and efforts, too.

Thanks to our supporters on the day! The banners, pom poms, chants and dulcet cries of encouragement were brilliant. No other team, netball or WNBA, was supported like the Jags were on Saturday.

And of course, huge thanks to Netball America for facilitating this massive event. It's a huge undertaking, and such a great fixture on the calendar for showcasing our beloved sport. The Jags were thrilled to be a part of it, and were chuffed to represent netball on this prestigious stage.

Go Jaguars!!

Watch this space for a full match report and more photos, coming soon.

Our summer fundraiser was a terrific success. The MINC girls clambered aboard The Star of Palm Beach (that's a boat, y'all) and set sail on the Hudson River for a night of Brazilian dancing, Afro beats, cocktails, company, and fabulous views.

Even though it was a little damp and blustery (thanks, Hurricane Lee), we had a great time soaking up the experience. Click through for a few snaps of the fun!