Durban matric pupil Grace Daley, 17, aims to balance her studies with sports as she prepares for the upcoming Telkom Netball League on April 27.
Grace, who attends Durban Girls’ College, has been selected to represent the KwaZulu-Natal outfit, the Kingdom Queens. Grace said that she hopes to gain as much experience by competing with South Africa’s top netball players.
Grace is concerned about the number of school days she will miss while on tour but is confident that her school will find ways to enable learning while pursuing netball.
Grace also believes that her friends are going to help by sending her notes so that she does not fall too far behind. Grace is dedicated to playing catch-up with schoolwork.
“Initially, I was selected as a non-travelling reserve for the Kingdom Queens, which I was very happy about. I had obviously hoped to make the travelling team, but I was very happy to be a part of the team even if I was a non-traveller. I was looking forward to the training at such a high level. When I was told that I was moved into the travelling team at the first training camp, I was very happy as the team is filled with amazing players and coached by fantastic coaches,” she said.
Grace said she started playing netball when she was 10.
“I was not a fantastic player then but I played for fun. I only grew an interest in netball in Grade 9 after watching Karla Pretorius play with Precious Mthembu for the Proteas. I was fortunate enough to have a slightly older player in my school team named Hannah. She taught me so much about defence and in general how to be a good player. She is a great player and a great friend. After playing with her I decided to try to take netball a bit more seriously,” she said.
Grace has intentions of studying to be an occupational therapist. Her father, Nick, advised Grace to never doubt herself.
Nick said: “Grace is an exceptionally disciplined young lady. She takes her studies and her sports training very seriously, enabling her to maintain her high marks throughout her schooling career thus far. Discipline and a hard work ethic will always naturally reflect in all aspects of her life. Her drive for success and her hard work ethic will not allow her to let one discipline slip.”
He added that she’s self-motivated and that all she needs is time and space before making things happen. He said that throughout her schooling career, her discipline has shone through as they have had to travel long distances for training and competitions, and he is proud that all the hard work and sacrifice has paid off.
“She has always been in the excellent range in all sports in which she participated, representing KZN schools in netball, athletics, cross-country, softball and swimming. She always seemed to be destined to achieve at the highest level one day,” he said.
The Telkom Netball League commences on April 27 and the defending champions, Gauteng Jaguars, will look to add a record-extending seventh crown.
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