General News
30 March, 2023
Mindful colouring for netballers
A NEW mindfulness colouring book was launched last week at Camperdown’s netball courts.
A NEW mindfulness colouring book was launched last week at Camperdown’s netball courts.
The book, ‘Calming Colouring’, is a compilation of quotes written by Emily Stephens and illustrations by Emma Wright, who grew up playing netball in the area.
Every sale of the book will go towards the Confident Girls foundation, which is a Netball Australia foundation helps was disadvantaged girls access netball and other opportunities.
Netfit founder Sarah Wall said the Confident Girls foundation has done “really great” work in the past, and the trio were “really happy” to support them.
“When Emma and Emily approached me with the idea to create this mindful colouring book, it was never a money-making venture,” she said.
“They wanted the money to go towards helping others, and specifically to grow young women’s confidence.”
Ms Wall said she was “proud” of the south west.
“There’s so much talent down here, and for this book to be produced, it shows people in regional areas can do anything,” she said.
“A lot of the work behind the scenes at Netfit comes from a lot of south west talent, and we’re proud of that.
“I hope that we sell lots of books, and I hope that netball clubs can see it as a gift to give to their players.
“I also hope people stop their devices and give themselves a nice peaceful time with their colouring in and think about all the good things netball brings into their lives.”
Ms Stephens said the book began as a conversation between Ms Wright and herself, where they discussed their shared love of netball and Ms Wright’s love of drawing and creativity.
“We thought how cool it would be to bring a colouring book together and use netball as a catalyst for that,” she said.
“We spoke to Sarah and it went from there.
“She thought it was a great idea and something that we could help people with regarding mindfulness, and just another element to netball.
“It just worked well. It’s pretty special.”
Ms Stephens said it was “special” to collaborate with people from the same town.
“We hope it helps young people in some aspect,” she said.
“All the funds are going to Confident Girls, so that in itself is awesome, and we hope it helps people get out on the court.
“We really hope we see the calming colouring around the town and perhaps with young netballers around the state, or even the country.”
Ms Wright said the book concept built momentum during the COVID lockdowns, with Ms Wall and Netfit supporting the process.
“A lot of the illustrations that I’ve done in it come from here (Camperdown).” she said.
“It’s great; it’s where we grew up.
“It was good to launch it here with all the younger girls and the teams we’ve played for.”
Ms Wright said she hopes the community will support ‘Calming Colouring’.
“I just hope that everyone supports it and it’s great for the younger generation to have something like this,” she said.
“It’s great for building good habits and mindfulness, and it’s something a lot of younger girls need in the hectic times we’ve had over the last few years.”
‘Calming Colouring’ will be sold in packs of ten for around $11 per pack.
