Captain s Log featuring Ely Netball Club s Karen Carter. ELY Netball Club was formed back in 2000 by a group of mums who wanted to get back into netball and keep fit. Since then the club has gone from strength to strength and now has three teams in the

Captain's Log featuring Ely Netball Club's Karen Carter.

ELY Netball Club was formed back in 2000 by a group of mums who wanted to get back into netball and keep fit.

Since then the club has gone from strength to strength and now has three teams in the

Cambridge District Netball League, one being a Premier League team.

The club's third team, of which I am a member, was formed back in the beginning of 2007 by Lisa Martin and was made up of ladies of various ages who hadn't played netball since their school days.

Our first winter league season was a huge learning curve for us and we didn't win a single game, or score many goals. We were well and truly beaten every time, leaving us at the bottom of our division and at the bottom of the league system, but we didn't give up.

Some players left and new players joined and at times it was a struggle to get a team but we persevered and entered a summer league to try and improve our game. Unfortunately though, it was more of the same and although our game was improving slowly, at times it was frustrating with the change of players, the constant change of positions and a particularly nasty injury which left the team unsettled.

Last year, our captain emigrated to Australia, and club member Anita Reidy agreed to fill her role with myself as her vice-captain. We also took on some new, exciting and committed players.

Team 3 finally began to gel together and we started this year's winter league with new hope. In September 2008, in just our second game, we had our first win against Icons 4, the score was 24 - 19 at home. We were all ecstatic, all our hard work and perseverance had paid off and we finally reaped the benefits.

Now with our debut win out the way, we have gone on to win more games, the most recent of which came against Cambourne 2.

I am proud to be a part of the emerging third team, we are still learning but it is a privilege to be part of the club alongside the great players in our first and second teams.

All team members work really hard behind the scenes to make the club a success and we wouldn't be where we are without them.

In the coming weeks we will be organising a fun event for Comic Relief so that will be something to look forward to.

If anyone is interested in playing netball, training is held at the Littleport Leisure Centre on a Thursday night, 7.30-9pm.