AFTER a two year break from netball, Jessica Khomo is back with a bang. The 27-year-old has made the South African Netball team and said the news of her selection was still ‘surreal’.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet. I think the people around me, friends and family are more excited than me,” giggled Jess.
The Our Lady of Fatima teacher who was born and bred in Umgababa, in the South of Durban said she began playing netball from the age of 10.
Starting a new job as a teacher forced Khomo to put her netball career on hold. She said the break is what motivated her to work even harder to achieve her goal of being a professional netball player.
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“When I started netball I wasn’t so good but with training I got better. During the two year break I didn’t play at all. I just focused on re-working my game plan. The break was definitely what I needed. I came back with the right mind frame, I came back stronger,” she said.
Last year Khomo represented the country at the Fast5 World Series in Melbourne. The team, which finished fifth, played against Australia, New Zealand, England, Jamaica and Malawi.
Speaking to the Northglen News earlier this year, Khomo said making it to the national squad was on the top of her short term goals list.
“This year I’m striving to achieve a number of goals and one of them is to be selected for the team for the next tournament and then beyond that the world cup in Liverpool in 2019. I’m managing my workload better than I did when I took a break from the competitive level. I’m going to continue to work hard at developing my game and hopefully that will pay dividends,” she said.
The 27-year-old said she will use the opportunity to showcase her talent and hopefully bag an international contract.
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“I think the ‘national squad player’ feeling will only kick in when I actually get play time. I will obviously do my best to showcase my talent hoping that the right team scouts me. An international contract would be a dream come true because it would mean I can play ball full time and not worry about working to make ends meet.”
Khomo said one of the biggest challenges for her has been choosing between working to support her family and following her passion of being a netball player.
“Juggling between work and play is very challenging because the days are longer. On most days I start training at 5am just so that I make it to school on time. Having my family with me throughout this journey has been the biggest highlight. They keep me going and motivate me to strive higher.”
