International Women’s Day Women’s Day down at the Essex Sports Arena. The Rebs are SUPERB at these type of events. An afternoon of activities were planned, leading up to the women tipping off against Newcastle Eagles at 4pm.
Some impressive marketing has been put behind the day. The Rebs were rewarded with one of the biggest he crowds for the season, mainly families with young daughters. The girls on court are genuine role models for these kids.
I rocked up slightly late, deciding to give the Women’s Sport Collective networking event a miss. No one wants to see a socially awkward middle aged bloke gatecrashing a panel celebrating what can be achieved locally through sport and empowerment.
I don’t want to put a downer on the event; 99.99% of the crowd were totally engaged, giving it some big Rebs energy as the team took to the court. I was appalled though at the site of three primary school kids sitting next to me who didn’t look up from their phones throughout the entire game. ffs.
There was SO much energy out there on the court. A thrilling game of basketball was taking place. Big Dog Ballin was bringing the vibes with the music. Games were taking place in-between play with the wonderful Rebs MC.
But nope. For three kids, two hours was better spent staring at a small screen, pressing buttons and shooting up pixels. It was most depressing tbh. Hey hoe.
But anyway. Back on the court. Rebs races to a 23-15 lead at the end of the first. There was some top quality play taking place out there. Newcastle are no mugs. They took control of the second, leading 43-29 at the break.
The half time entertainment saw some superb dance routines from three different age groups on court. The best performances came from the youngest. They were all primary school age, their trackies swallowed them up, such was their small size. Any doubts I had about ankle biters being stuck on bloody phones disappeared. I believe the children are our future, etc. But still the three pixel fixated kids didn’t look up.
The pace of the game slowed down slightly in the third. Both teams were finding it tough to take a lead. SHOUT OUT to Rebs Captain Claire Paxton, who stepped up with a couple of big three pointers to pull Rebs away.
Everything flowed for the Rebs in the fourth: the passes the shots, the rebounds. Even the decisions from the refs seemed to favour the home team - a rarity at the Arena.
The final scoreline of Rebs 92, Newcastle 79 seemed about fair. The team celebrated in the now customary way of running up and down the stands, high fiving the fans - well, all but three mobile kids who surely must have used up all of their data by now?
This was something of a positive family affair. Many of the Rebs' overseas players had their families over for the event. It was something of a lovely Rebs moments seeing the whole team and their families celebrating together.
Up the Rebs!
