Good Sport

Six courts of six-a-side indoor netball games, all starting and stopping simultaneously on the buzzer.

Eight-minute quarters, with a 30-second changeover between. Apart from the half-time break, which is a minute long.

The schedule is tight. On any given Tuesday, there could be as many as 70 teams playing in the social netball league at Mercury Baypark Arena in Mount Maunganui. That’s at least six rounds held back-to-back, with the first set of games starting at 6pm.

There’s a lot going on. A lot of moving parts.

Mitch Rawiri Terry has it all under control.

She stays cool, calm and collected throughout. She's like a conductor directing a complex orchestral performance, except sometimes she picks up one of the instruments herself and also has a go.

Mitch has mastered the art of keeping all the balls in the air. She organises and leads her team of umpires, juggles all the games needing to be played, explains rules, smoothes out any crinkles, and keeps the whole operation on track and on time.

“I’ve done it for so long and I know what people are like and you just build a bond with players,” she says, when asked for her secret to success.

Mitch has been involved in social netball at Baypark Arena for more than a decade now.

“A lot of teams go away, come back, and they’re surprised that I’m still here. They’re just shocked when they walk in and somebody will say ‘Mitch will take care of you’ and then they’re like, ‘Oh my God, is she still here!?’”

Two themes are dominant during our interview – her absolute love of the game (of all sports, really), and her absolute love of people.

When she’s not working as a netball programme supervisor for BayActive, Mitch is doing early morning shifts at Countdown Bayfair, or helping out with after-school care and holiday programmes for Play Time.

“If you put all my jobs together, I actually just love being around people. Interacting with people, getting to know more people. I just love it, because I come from a huge family, so we’re used to being tight knit.”

Mitch is of Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Raukawa descent. Her love of sport comes from her whānau.

She has lived her whole life in Arataki and is passionate about her community and the Arataki Sports Club. Her late dad was once the club president and Mitch grew up playing all types of sport.

She played rugby and basketball alongside her mum, and they had a family touch rugby team made up of her brothers and sisters and cousins, with her mum and dad as the coaches.

Mitch was bitten by the netball bug when she was at Mount Maunganui College (she avoided it up until then because she refused to wear a skirt). 

Ever since then, she has thrown herself into every facet of the game – as player, coach, and umpire. Both indoor and outdoor.

She’s still playing for social and club teams.

“I just love it and with netball, you try and retire but it just doesn’t happen,” Mitch says with a laugh.

She’s also passed on her love of sport, and in particular netball, to her three daughters and two mokopuna, like her parents did for her.

Members of her whānau often join her courtside on Tuesdays at Mercury Baypark Arena.

Mitch says she gets so much joy watching everybody out on court, having fun.

“To be honest, I actually just do it for the love of it. It’s been great. I’ve met so many different people coming in and out of this place, and just meeting more and more new faces as the years go by. It’s just like one big family.”

She is proud and protective of her fellow umpires. Some have years of experience under their belt and have been alongside her for years. Others are just starting out; teenagers still at school.

Mitch can be strict and firm when she needs to be – “It’s the only way they’re going to learn” – but she’s also kind and supportive. She believes in the power of building confidence.

She’s also quick to make any new teams and players feel welcome, checking in with them after their games to see how they went, answering any questions they might have.

“It’s just a matter of looking after each other eh.”

Mitch’s final message, to anyone thinking about joining the BayActive social sports leagues, is this: give it a go.

“Don’t think about it – just do it. You might be here as long as I have. If you love it, you’ll carry on. And I’ve always just loved it. I just like helping people, I like being around people, and sport’s just in my blood.”

The next social netball leagues at Mercury Baypark Arena start in late January and will be played on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. There is also social football on Wednesdays.

To register head to bayactive.co.nz