Double Bluff at the Goalden Globes
9th November 2009

When I went to attend an England Netball Squad training weekend at Hertfordshire Sports Village at the end of September, little did I know that I was going to be conned by two of the most respected people in Mavericks netball – Maggie Jackson & Gloria Keech!

On the Saturday night of the training camp I was informed that I was going to attend the Annual Netball Goalden Globes event that was being held in Hinckley, Leicestershire. This event celebrates people that contribute significantly to the world of netball, mostly in a voluntary capacity. The game would cease to exist and flourish if it wasn’t for these people. Luckily, I knew about this in advance as I had been asked to present Maggie Jackson with her Honorary Life Membership. This was something that I was thrilled to do as she has been an inspiration to me during my netball career, a fantastic coach, person and friend. Our Squad Nutritionist Emma McCrudden accompanied me up to Hinckley, stopping at a service station on the way to apply make up and change into our dresses.

The Goalden Globes was an exciting event. The room was filled with so many netball enthusiasts from around the country - all celebrating everything that is great about Netball. I was moved by some of the stories of the nominees; how they give up their time freely with early mornings and late nights, helping with coaching, umpiring and administrative work so that people in their town, county, region can play and enjoy the game.

After the initial awards, we sat down for dinner. This is where I started to get a little confused. No Honorary Life Membership award had been given out and the awards ceremony had finished! What was going on? I was eventually told that there would be one more special award for Maggie after dinner…….Phew!

Following dinner they started their final awards. The first special award was an inductee into the England Netball Hall of Fame. As they began to describe the person it suddenly dawned on me that I had been tricked. The award was for me! Maggie and Gloria were both grinning as the secret they had been keeping all evening was now out. Fortunately for me, I got my own back. The next award was the Honorary Life Membership for Maggie who looked even more shocked and surprised than I did. A standing ovation was given when she came up to receive her award!

The evening was great fun, but it was soon back to reality as I headed back to Hatfield for day two of our training camp. Needless to say, Maggie and I may not trust each other fully ever again!