On the recent Mother's Day Sunday I was out and about with the kids giving their mother the ultimate present - peace and quiet. We ate breakfast and explored, but of course, the Conejo Valley. One park I hadn't seen for some time was the recently renovated Oakbrook Neighborhood Park at the corner of Erbes and Pederson Roads in Thousand Oaks.

This 14 acre park more than doubled in usable size last year with the addition of a jogging/bike path, grassy areas, basketball court, expanded playground area, restroom and even several horseshoe pits. I was thoroughly impressed at the upgrades.

Then we noticed something odd. The backboards were missing on one of the basketball courts! Wait a second...how could this happen?? 

As my kids were laughing I noticed the large sign explaining the game of netball, a sport I'd never heard of in my nearly half century on this earth. Well, now I know a little bit about netball. With a little investigating on the Conejo Recreation & Park District website I learned that this is the first (and as of May 2013) the only netball court in Thousand Oaks.

The seven minute video below proved extremely useful in providing the basics of netball, a sport consisting of two teams of seven players looking to score goals in the baskets while holding the ball for no more than three seconds at a time. Looks fun! Also visit www.wikihow.com/Play-Netball.

Original Posting Date: 5/22/13