Manual for netballers

Press, 22 June 1985, Page 20

Manual for netballers

Lois Muir on Netball. By Lois Muir, with Joseph Romanos. Reed Methuen, 1985. 148 pp. $19.95. After successfully guiding the national netball team for the last 10 years, Lois Muir’s name is synonymous with the sport in New Zealand. She has provided, in her book, another, valuable contribution — a comprehensive manual on the basics of playing, coaching, and umpiring netball. It is difficult to compare her book with others on netball as the sport is notable for the lack of writings. “Lois Muir on Netball” goes some way towards filling that gap. The national coach, and a former international player, has written a clear account of her approach to the game. With diagrams and black-and-white photographs, the book gives practical programmes for coaches as well as instruction in fitness, training and tactics. It also has a chapter on an-oft neglected aspect of the sport —

umpiring. Lois Muir has also drawn on several other netball personalities for the book, five international players, four current members of the New Zealand side, give their views on specific areas of the sport. Lyn Parker writes about attacking play, Yvonne Willering about defensive skills, Margharet Matenga about goal shooting, Tracey Fear about the goal-keep position, and Leigh Gibbs about fitness. Dawn Jones, a top New Zealand umpire, writes about umpiring. The book also includes the international rules of the game, umpiring hand signals, and the 20 most asked questions at netball seminars given by iVlrs Muir.

The book is a manual, not an autobiography of Lois Muir. However, it begins with a chapter on the national coach’s beginnings in the sport. The chapter is written by Joseph Romanos, who assisted with the writing of the rest of the book. He traces Lois Muir’s career as a basketball and netball player through to the present day. He also records her opinions of some of the leading players in the sport. — Kay Forrester.