Love Sport?
Here’ s how to make it your future career!
We have to have a chat with Captain of the Surrey Storms netball team, Georgia Lees, on what it takes to become a professional netball player …
Meeting up with Georgia in a coffee shop in her hometown was a bit strange. I expected her to come jogging into the shop in her tracksuit, ready to jet off to practice at a moment’ s notice. I did not expect the stunning, tall girl sitting in her fashionable jeans and boots combo sipping on a full fat hot chocolate( complete with marshmallows, we love her already).
As we start to chat, I can immediately see how warm and friendly she is, and when we start to talk about netball and her career, I see her face light up.“ I started playing netball when I was 10, in year six playing for the school team. I was always very tall as a child so I think I was always put into the netball team at school because of that. My mum and sister also used to play so I was very familiar with the sport growing up as a child.”
“ I play wing attack and my main role is to get free on a centre pass and feed the ball into the shooting circle to the goal shooter and goal attacker. I really enjoy playing WA as there is no added pressure on having to score goals but I still get to be an attacking player which is what I enjoy the most.”
“ I play wing attack and my main role is to get free on a centre pass and feed the ball into the shooting circle to the goal shooter and goal attacker. I really enjoy playing WA as there is no added pressure on having to score goals but I still get to be an attacking player which is what I enjoy the most.”
Growing up whilst playing netball was a bit tough, with some teachers and friends trying to tell Georgia it wasn’ t worth it because they didn’ t see netball as a career. However, Georgia always dismissed their comments and has gone on to prove them wrong.“ I remember at school most teachers apart from my PE teachers would encourage me to stop playing netball. There were times I would have to leave school early because I had to attend a training session one hour away from home or I was constantly tired during school lessons as I was trying to fit in my 10 hours of training for that week. My teachers would tell me it’ s not worth it as there was such a small opportunity for me to make it as a professional athlete, but it’ s what I wanted to do, so I ignored them.” Whateva loves determination, as not only has Georgia gone on to become a professional netball player, but has also managed to graduate from Brunel University and has a Master’ s degree! Who said girls can’ t do it all?!
But it wasn’ t just the love of the sport that kept her going, it was the friendships and bond she made with her teammates,“ I think for girls in particular participating in a team sport is really good for self-confidence and body confidence. In a team sport where many different positions are required, such as netball, there is no one ideal body type for all positions and it makes it a“ safe” environment for girls to feel like it’ s okay to be different. I think growing up playing sport also is important for social behaviour and gives you the opportunity to interact with many different people. I’ ve made so many lifelong friends from playing netball, and now I couldn’ t imagine my day to day life without my teammates – we’ re like a family.”
Success does not come without hard work.“ To get to the point where I am at now has taken many years of training, trials and knock backs. I was in school when I was first selected into the England set up. The training hours only increased when I was selected into higher-level teams. It takes a lot of sacrifice- I have missed countless birthday parties and family events to play important fixtures and attend training sessions. I now have to fit my training sessions around my full time job.”
Hours of hard work and training paid off for Georgia, as she now has plenty of awards under her belt,“ I have won European Championships with the England U19 team, as well as winning the netball Super League two times back to back.”
So, what advice can this huge netball star give our sports loving readers?“ I would tell any girl looking to play professional sports to just stick with it. The professional world of sport can be very“ cut throat” at times and for a teen being rejected from a team or training pathway at the time can be the end of the world. With training and a lot of hard work you can achieve anything you want to and be whateva you want to be!”