Local netball stalwart quietly confident about the World Cup
One of the veterans of South African and local netball is excited about the Proteas' onslaught in the upcoming World Cup in England.
With 115 caps to her name and representing South Africa next month for a fourth time at a Netball World Cup Tournament, it is easy to think that Erin Burger has achieved everything she had set out to do.
But at 32 years of age, the former Tuks player is as passionate about netball as the first time she had the ball in hand.
“I feel that I might be playing the best netball of my whole career at the moment, and it has to do with the way I have grown as a person over the last few years. My whole focus as a player had changed. When I started playing, it was essential to look cool on the court. Flashy. I wanted to do things no other player was able to do. I honestly thought I was the best I could be,” explains the Proteas most capped player.
Burger explains that a video of a 2012 game in which the Proteas played against Jamaica gave her the necessary perspective.
“I was wild doing things on the court without thinking at all. Luckily, over the years, it got to a stage where I realised being impressive on the court and being effective is not the same thing. My focus changed. Nowadays, when I play the goal is to limit my mistakes to a minimum,” she explained.
Burger said the way I play these days might not impress everyone, but hopefully, people will be surprised with the ease at which she manage execute things if they look carefully.
“It does not matter for which team I play; my goal remains the same. I want to make a difference on the court. If I can help influence the outcome of a game in a small way, I consider it as a job well done,” she said.
Last year Burger had a big health scare. There was a stage when she thought her playing and coaching career had come to an end. It was something she was certainly not ready to accept.
“Every time I got active after a mere few minutes, I would start battling to breath. At first it was thought I had asthma problems. I was worried about merely being unfit, so I tended to push myself harder during training, not realising the damage I might have been causing to my body. The worst of it was during last year’s Commonwealth Games. There were times that I thought I was going to die on the court,” Burger explaned.
It was Neil du Plessis of the Sports Science Lab who realised that something is seriously wrong. He advised Burger to consult a very well-known cardiologist. He established that her heart’s muscles were severely inflamed.
“I am grateful to Neil and my cardiologist. If it were not for them, my involvement with netball might have come to an abrupt end. Neil is still monitoring my daily training regime. I also got to thank my support team – parents and friends – who, whenever I was feeling down and out, encouraged me not to give up.”
Burger made her World Cup debut in 2007 in Auckland. In 2015 in Singapore she received the award as the most valuable player of the tournament.
The former Tuks player is hesitant about making bold predictions as to what the Proteas might achieve during the Liverpool World Cup Tournament from 12 to 21 July.
“This I can promise we do not lack in motivation. After the last “Quad-series” we realise how close we are to achieving the goal we have been working towards over the last four years. For me, there is still no greater honour than playing for the Proteas. Compared to Australia, New Zealand and England, we might lack in many ways when it comes to financial support, but we make up for it with pride and guts. That is the one thing our coach, Norma Plummer, admires most about us,” she concluded.
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