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Veronica Gwaze Sports Reporter
WHEN she received her national team call up, Sharleen Makusha had to leave behind her husband in Zvishavane, drop off her one-year-old baby at her mother’s place in Norton and find her way to camp.
The key national netball team goal keeper is currently in camp at Mbare’s Stodart Netball Complex as preparations for World Netball Cup qualifiers due for August in Cape Town, South Africa, intensify.
A number of camps have been lined-up for the team with the first instalment meant to last for a month, attracting 19 players.
The Gems will camp in batches as they look to secure another qualification for the global showcase slated for July next year in Cape Town.
The 25-year-old Makusha, a newly-wed and first-time mother, had to make a rare sacrifice.
“Netball is my life so there was no other way except to follow my dream . . . A player, just like a mother, sometimes has to make painful sacrifices,” said the lanky star who also turns out for Platinum Queens.
“My husband understands and supports me, as a mother sometimes I miss my daughter but I have a duty to fulfil and I look forward to seeing her after camp.”
Earning a living through netball, Makusha 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 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 Makusha.
“He even pushes me whenever I am down because sometimes being a player, wife and mother is tough and demanding.
“We communicate daily; my mother also calls me every day so my life in camp is not tough at all.”
Being one of the key players in the current crop of Gems, Makusha made her debut on the senior netball fold at the 2018 Diamond Challenge in South Africa.
Ironically, her arrival back then divided opinion.
Some pundits, coaches and players alike felt she lacked the sting that is needed at the international stage.
However, for some, it was a matter of time, “Tan-tan’’, as she is affectionately known, was a pure gem in refinement.
A year later, she featured on the squad that left a huge mark on their debut at the World Netball Cup in Liverpool, England.
Five years later, not even giving birth or getting married seems to deter her.
When her baby turned three months, the lanky defender resumed personal training, as a result when league and national duty came, she was physically and mentally prepared.
“I actually feel like I have even improved since I gave birth. Maybe it is because when you are heavily pregnant, you cannot do much and you feel like you are lagging behind,” she said.
“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 workout and I am glad it paid off.
“I stopped breast feeding when my baby turned eight months old to give us both time to get used to a set-up like this one and I knew one day I had to go for national duty so we needed to prepare for it.”
With the Gems now in new hands, Makusha is confident the team is poised for greater heights.
Ropafadzo Mutsauki was recently promoted to Head Coach, roping in new kid Tatenda Shinya as the assistant.
Mutsauki is, however, not new in the Gems camp as he has for years been assistant to Lloyd Makunde.
“This time we are doing things differently, the new coaches have their way of doing business so we are adjusting accordingly and come the next World Cup, I am confident we will be among the giants,” Makusha added.
Ordinarily, this camp would have been expected to give her a lot of pressure but Makusha seems composed.
“Over the years, we have grown to be like family so for me this is home and I have to be myself and give it my all on the court.”
Online Reporter