Local star scores to win champs
Talented netball player hopes to play professionally in the future.
Netball is in the blood for Brakpan’s Nicole Gertenbach.
The 22-year-old Netball Freakz’s scoring sensation proved her passion and talent when she scored the winning goal for Ekurhuleni when they beat Tswane 19-18 in the final play of the Gauteng Championships, in Sedibeng, on Saturday.
The goal was scored after the hooter.
“I didn’t even know I had scored the winning goal until my mom told me the score after the game. I asked if I had scored the winning goal and when she said ‘yes’ I just hugged her,” she said.
The relationship between Gertenbach and her mother, Elzabe, is what brought Nicole to the sport she loves so much.
“My mom is a netball coach so I grew up next to a netball court,” said Nicole.
“That’s where the love for the sport comes from. It’s from watching my mom coaching other girls and wanting to be like them. So it’s in the blood.”
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The passion and bond around the sport run deep in this family as the youngster has also chosen a career path similar to the matriarch of her family.
Both women are coaches, with Nicole coaching the juniors at both Netball Freakz and Hoërskool Die Anker. The youngster says she is on a netball court almost every day.
“I practice outdoors twice a week but I play indoors as well on the other two days of the week. Then I play outdoor on Saturdays and Sundays. The only day I get off is Friday,” she said.
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Gertenbach hopes to play in the high leagues one day. The professional Telkom Netball League is one she is aiming at.
“I’d like to play for the Fireballs or Jaguars,” she said.
“But if it’s not meant to be I’ll continue playing for Ekurhuleni.”
Gertenbach is preparing to be part of the Ekurhuleni team that will play at the South African Championships at Potchefstroom in August.
