Lifeball this year began midway through January, because all the players wanted to recommence our season early, such was the enthusiasm remaining from last year!!
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We began with two more new players, and another new player joined just this week, so our weekly numbers are hovering between 15-18 players - a very satisfying increase on last year.  Two players regularly come from Mansfield, occasionally more, but the Mansfield girls are such a welcome addition, as they add to the jollity and laughter of each game.  We would like to call this wonderful game "LAUGHBALL", as this is how we spend the bulk of our time when playing - laughing!!

Our Fun and Friendship day this year will be on 16th April.  We decided March was still too hot in our hall to comfortably play for a day, so this year we decided to move to a later time.  We will be inviting Mansfield, Eildon, Rutherglen, Myrtleford, Albury, Wangaratta and Deniliquin to join us for a day of Lifeball, Fun, Food, and Friendship.  We cater for our guests for morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea, before teams return to their home clubs.

Despite the game being "non-competitive", it is usually very competitive, but can be difficult, as any physical contact between players is deemed a "barge", and the ball goes to the opposition.
The game is primarily very safe, and every aspect of the game is directed towards that end - safety.  That's why it's a walking game, no running, and no going backwards....it is too unsafe!
However, as the years have passed, the skill levels have increased, and some players have refined these levels brilliantly.

But, for us, the game is just great fun, as well as increasing our fitness, mobility and balance.
Come along any Monday morning at 9.30 (at least in the summer, we will revert to 10am when the weather cools significantly) to the Recreation Centre in Arundel St, and gauge for yourself how great is our game.  You will be made very welcome, as all our newcomers will attest!

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Marg Merriman   5762 2967

Margaret Merriman has advised that the group has decided to start at 9.30 am during the summer months, which sounds a good idea!   For some of you this may be late notice - we do apologise.  If you need to clarify this, please call Marg on 5762 2967.

Lifeball continues to expand at a very pleasing rate. We now have a full team playing each week, with varying numbers having to sit out and wait for a game to finish before they can play. Which is SO good! As well, those who qualified as umpires are having more experience with constant opportunities for umpiring under the close supervision of Gwen and Rupert Cheetham, to ensure they have a good grasp of the rules, and, more importantly, how to blow their whistle! True!! The whistle is one of the most important components of the game, believe it or not!!

Our very sad news however, is that we lost a popular player, Thelma Lipscombe, last Sunday morning. She had been ill for a while, and her health was rapidly deteriorating of recent days. So we hope to have some of us representing Lifeball, to attend her funeral, whenever that may occur, unknown as I write. We are all very sad, as we have never lost a member before.

Preparations are being made for our breakup luncheon, to be held at the Golf Club, on the 11th December. We will play first, as we do, then move to the Golf Club by midday. We resume playing on the Monday 15th January, in our hall at the Benalla Indoor Recreation Centre, starting at 9.45am.

If you want to be involved somehow, the new year is a great opportunity to give us a go. No pressure! Come along, see (and hear) what we do, and why we love our game so much, this game of LAUGHball. Give me a call to find out more, I am happy to advertise us to anyone who is prepared to listen!
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Marg Merriman 5762 2967

Lifeball is going from strength to strength!!

This delights us of course, as "Laughball" continues to inspire us from week to week!

I had a call from another prospective member this week, who will be coming next Monday to give us the once over before making a commitment. Everyone who considers joining us has this opportunity - try before you buy!  If you like what you see, you will never regret it!  We are all quite mad, very noisy, very helpful to those needing some mentoring, and we all get along beautifully!!!

Next week we go to Rutherglen for their Fun and Friendship Day, starting at 10am.  There will be a wonderful lunch, as there always is at every venue where we play, and our friendship base continues to grow all the time.

We had a wonderful day - again - at Albury recently, when Brian (on crutches) and Colleen spoke to us about aspects needing attention, from players, to rules, to umpires, the lot.  Their everlasting enthusiasm is so infectious, and it is impossible not to feel such passion for the game.

Which is why we continue to play every week, as we look forward to it so much!!!
Come and join us - it is quite painless really, and SUCH fun!!
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Marg Merriman   5762 2967

Lifeball continues to grow....this past Monday, we had 20 players. We have one new player, Judy, who is really keen, and another possibility, a friend of Marie. Tonight I had a phone call from another prospective player, who intends to call in to see how we play our beaut game. You should do it as well.......

At the end of August, we held an umpire's training and refreshing umpire's day, and as a result, we now have 6 prospective new umpires, who can assist with our games each week. It was a most successful day, culminating with 4 different soups and fresh bread for lunch. Well earned!!

On October 25, we have been invited to Rutherglen for their Fun Day - numbers unknown as I write, but I hope we may have 6 others to accompany Rupert, Anne and me, for yet another great Lifeball day.

With our new umpires, our game takes on a new aspect, as they find their feet, and put their new-found skills into practice. And we all try to help, some at the most inappropriate times......we have to get used to them as well!!!

As others come to investigate our game, why don't you come and investigate us as well? Who knows, you may be another convert!!
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Marg Merriman 5762 2967

​“Lifeball is the game we play, we play it just for fun.......”
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This is the first line of the Lifeball Song, created by Dr Brian Lord, who, with his wife, Colleen, began the Lifeball game some years ago now.  It’s the very same game we play every Monday at 10 am in the Recreation Centre in Ackerly Avenue.

We had yet another new player join us last game, Judy, who said she thought it was great fun!! And so it is!!

We are sending our love and best wishes to Thelma, in hospital in Albury, she is undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy at present, and is feeling a bit low.

On the 28th of August, we are hosting an Umpire Training Day in Benalla, both for prospective umpires and as a refresher course for those who need updating on the rules and regulations of our game.  This is both a mixture of theory and practice, and our Benalla players will be participating in assisting these umpires to complete their training.

Then, on September 6, a group of us will travel to Albury to share in their Fun and Friendship Day.  These are great days, and we always have a good enthusiastic crowd, all playing for the fun of the day, and the enjoyment of the game.

Plus, the lunch is pretty good as well!!!!!!

Do come along on Mondays from 10 till about 11.30, and then you will understand why we enjoy ourselves so much!!

Marg Merriman   5762 2967

We have been going, and growing, strongly, despite the cold mornings. Having to install the metal goalposts each week is especially uncomfortable on the frosty mornings, but, grizzling and moaning, it is done to everyone's satisfaction each week. We play about five games each Monday morning, and at the end of that time, everyone is thoroughly warmed up, although the laughter is enough to warm anyone!!

We have had a couple of players - Thelma and Beth - who are on the unwell list, and we send them all our best wishes for a full recovery in the fullness of time. We miss them both, especially Thelma who is undergoing chemotherapy, and we hope to see her back one day, before too much longer!

At the end of August there will be a special day - Benalla will be hosting an Umpires' Day, teaching interested players how to be an accredited umpire, and refresh those players who have done the course but who need to update their rules, both with theory and practice. It is a long day, and the lovely Colleen (a master trainer, from Albury,) will be here to oversee the day. This means there will be more umpires to assist on Fun and Friendship Days, when umpires have been scarce on the ground in the past
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Marg Merriman   5762 2967

Lifeball continues to be the highlight of our week.  Today we only had 8 players, so we played half court, and it was hilarious!!!  It is a great workout, but the situations that arose provoked constant laughter, and everyone had a ball!!!

We are making arrangements for us to go to the Golf Club for lunch on May 29 after we finish playing, which gives us a great opportunity for some much-needed socialisation in a relaxed situation, when there is no need to race home following the game.

We have been approached by Colleen Wilson-Lord, our esteemed leader in Albury, to run an umpires' training day, when potential umpires from surrounding teams (Albury, Deniliquin, Rutherglen, Wangaratta, Myrtleford, Mansfield, Eildon, and us, of course) all meet to learn the rules thoroughly, then put them into practice when teams come onto the court later.  Umpires will be put through their paces, testing both their knowledge and practice, and if successful, they will be awarded their credentials at a Fun and Friendship Day later in the year.

This will be a whole day's training, so there will be both morning and afternoon tea, and lunch for all participants.

Some teams have difficulties fielding umpires when we play away, so having a wide selection of umpires takes the responsibility away from those who umpire all the time, at every game.
We are hoping that August 28 will be the selected day, but we must till we have responses from all teams before that date can become definitive.

If you like, come and watch our version of hilarity every Monday at 10am at the Benalla Indoor Recreation Centre, in Ackerly Avenue, and if like what you see, join in!! You will be made very welcome!!!

You don't have to mad to join us, but it sure would be an asset!!!!
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Marg Merriman   5762 2967 (New number)

Lifeball is undergoing a resurgence in Benalla!  We now regularly have around 16 people per game.  One player has returned after some time away from the game, and she is a true asset!!

We had a wonderful Fun and Friendship Day last month, with over 60 people attending.  The players came from Deniliquin, Albury, Wangaratta, Rutherglen, Myrtleford, Mansfield, Eildon, and of course, ourselves.  It was a super day....these days always are! 
 
We have been invited to go to Myrtleford on the 28th of this month for their special day, and, as I write, we have around 12 players anxious to attend, which is marvellous!

Colleen Wilson-Lord and her husband Brian, the instigators of the game, came as well - it is always such a pleasure when they come, to oversee what happens on the court, and give us timely advice on the "road rules", what we are doing wrong and how to fix it.  They are marvellous people, so constantly enthusiastic, and it really becomes contagious!!

Come and watch us, any Monday morning at 9.45 am, at the Benalla Indoor Recreation Centre in Ackerley Avenue, and you never know - you may even be tempted to hop in and join our happy throng!  Which would be good for us ....and you too!!
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Marg Merriman.   5762 2967 (New number)