Online Reporter
Veronica Gwaze-Zimpapers Sports Hub
FOR Gems’ vice-captain Claris Kwaramba, netball is a passion that burns from within.
The Zimbabwe senior team netballer had to make a rare sacrifice of leaving behind an 11-month-old baby with her sisters-in-law back home in Masvingo and find her way to camp.
Kwaramba bounced back from maternity leave, ahead of the team’s preparations for the Tri-Nations tournament, which has been slated for October 23, 24 and 25 in the capital, the games will be funded by Zimbabwe Netball Association’s major benefactor, Nedbank.
It is scheduled to feature hosts the Gems, juniors Zambezi Eagles, male senior side Golden Eagles, visitors Malawi and Botswana.
Kwaramba, a key national netball team mid-court player, is in camp at Queen Elizabeth High School as preparations for the tournament intensify.
For a newly-wed, and first-time mother and University of Zimbabwe law student, the 25-year-old had to go beyond just a call of duty.
“My life has literally revolved around netball since I was a young girl so there was no other way except to follow my dream,” said Kwaramba.
“A player, just like a mother or student, sometimes has to make painful sacrifices and early mornings, expressing breast milk is among other sacrifices had to be made.
“The good thing is that all the people around me understand and support the netballer in me hence it was easy to leave behind the baby and come for national duty.”
Kwaramba, who earns a living through netball, said a national team call-up is something she does not have to think twice to accept.
She feels she still has more to offer in the game and that with her family’s and husband’s support, she will achieve much more.
“It is a blessing to have a husband who always encourages you to do what you love . . . He understands my passion and has no problem letting me go for camp,” said Kwaramba.
“He even pushes me whenever I am down because sometimes being a player, wife, student and mother is demanding.
“With open communication daily, life in camp is not tough at all, although on the first day I shed tears because I missed my family.”
Being one of the key players in the current crop of Gems, Kwaramba made her debut on the senior netball fold at the 2018 Diamond Challenge in South Africa and was the youngest player in the team back then.
A year later, she featured on the team that left a huge mark on their debut appearance at the World Netball Cup in Liverpool, England.
She sent shock-waves through the courts as a rookie, securing a spot in the starting line-up on the star-studded team that had big names like the late Pauline Jani, Mercy Mukwadi, Patricia Mauladi, Ndaizivei Madzikangava, Joice Takaidza, Rudo Karume and Felisitus Kwangwa, among others.
In 2023, she rose to the team’s captaincy, deputising Felisitus Kwangwa at the World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa.
Years later, not even giving birth or getting married seems to deter her.
When her baby turned three months, the winger had to resume personal training.
Her day would start with a morning jog and workout before attending to her wifely duties and mother roles.
Later she would do light drills to ensure she gets back in shape and be physically, mentally prepared ahead of time.
By the time her child turned four months, Kwaramba was now on the books of Glow Petroleum Queens, a side that plies its trade under the Rainbow Netball League. She would sometimes take her baby for training.
Her coach Perpetua Siyachitema, allowed her to take breastfeeding breaks during training sessions, in an act that helped her quickly bounce back to match fitness.
“For the passion, self-belief and love of the game I had to make a quick return, so I put in extra hours in my individual work out and I am glad it paid off,” she said.
Ordinarily, this camp would have been expected to give her a lot of pressure but Kwaramba appears composed.
She is expected to be part of the team to do duty at the Celtic Cup in Scotland in November and the African Championships in Malawi in December.
Eyeing a third successive Netball World Cup appearance, she believes that the team can easily win the only available slot.
With South Africa and Uganda ranked in the top seven nations globally, they automatically qualify for the global showcase.
Resultantly, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Eswathini and Kenya will have to fight for a solitary available ticket to make it to the World Cup.
“This time we are doing things differently, we have the resources, thanks to Nedbank . . . we can participate in international friendlies and prepare in better conditions,” she said.
“I am confident we will be among the giants in the 2027 World Cup, we just need to give it our all in the preparations.”
