My name is Maggie Williams, and I work for BiCortex as their B2C & Translations Manager. I am a sporty person and that includes being part of the netball team, Silver Coast Sirens, a club based on Portugal’s Silver Coast. The club was launched about five years ago and welcomes people from a range of different nationalities to play this popular British game. For those of you that don’t know, it’s similar to basketball, but there is no moving with the ball allowed! I am lucky to be part of the coaching team and each week we meet for practice, including drills, skills and of course some game play.
Silver Coast Sirens welcomes all types of people from a range of ages. Some who have not played since school, some who never played before, but most importantly we welcome everyone who wants to join us. Netball is fast paced 7-a-side game, where the aim is to ‘shot the most goals’.
For me it helps to satisfy my social and competitive drive, keeps me fit and it’s great fun. I also love the coaching and seeing people improve week on week. We also enjoy regular social get togethers, mainly involving Portugal’s excellent food and wine. As with the rest of the world, COVID-19 put our club on hold, but we are all pleased to have been ‘back to normal’ for the last few months.
Details of the netball charity event
The idea came about a couple of years ago, and Susanne Spivey (the club funder) and myself along with the support of others decided to organise a Mixed Netball event. We invited the gentlemen from the local walking football club who were excited to take on the challenge. As the idea grew we thought the opportunity to run an event that supported two local charities could not be missed.
The nominated charities are both from Caldas da Rainha; Ordem do Trevo and MCV, both of which help local families and Ukrainian refugees to put food on the table, assist with essential purchases for babies and children and keep homes warm in the winter. All of the players had to pay an entry fee and we also organised a raffle to help increase the donation funds.
Many local business from restaurants, sports therapists and dog groomers supported with prize donations. We also invited non-players along to watch and enjoy the game in exchange for a small entrance fee. The event was held on 26th May 2022, and included four mixed teams of 9-10 players. The blues and red drew on points, but the reds were crowned winners on goal difference!
I would like to extend my gratitude to BiCortex Languages, BiCortex Translations and YES Concierge Real Estate for sponsoring this event and covering all of the costs, which allowed all of the funds raised to go to our charitable causes. We managed to raise a total of 1233€, which will be split between the two charities.
Many thanks to Ian Williams (no relation) for capturing the great moments of the event with his wonderful pictures, Caroline Migo for being chief umpire and Claire Williams for managing the event on the day. The biggest thanks though must go to everyone else who contributed and made it all possible. We have no doubt that all your donations will make a huge difference in people’s lives. We are already getting requests for another event next year and I for one can’t wait!