22 year old Vicklyn Joseph is just kicking off her third season with Netball Superleague team Brunel Hurricanes. Sportsister spoke to her at the launch of the new season in Manchester.
How did you first start playing netball?
I used to play for my high school and then my high school 6th form. I then started playing at a local club and from there you can get selected to play at county level which is what happened to me. I used to play for Middlesex county but three years ago that league ended and now there is no county level netball. That’s why Superleague has become so big. You either play for a club or in the Superleague - there isn’t anything in between anymore.
It must be very competitive to get selected by one of the Superleague teams?
Yes it definitely is. Sometimes people find themselves moving a long way from home to get into a team. If you want to play netball you might have to make big sacrifices to get into a team.
What do you do outside of netball, are you a student?
No, I’m a PE teacher, I just started in September. In previous seasons when I was studying at university it was quite hard to balance study as well as training. Now that I’ve got my full time job, it’s been challenging, but I love it so much I have to do it.
Do you do any other sports?
Last season we did a lot of basketball; there are many transferable skills in basketball that you can bring to netball. Our home ground is Guilford Spectrum and there’s a basketball team that play there too. Sometimes we can mix with the men’s basketball team, we play basketball and also netball with them too. We swap between the two in our training.
How important do you think it is that netball gets into the Olympics and what effect do you think that will have on the sport?
I think it will have a really positive effect, especially in the media.
I don’t think people understand that it’s not just a high school sport anymore; It’s really competitive.
It’s really hard for us as we don’t get paid for it so we have to balance a full time job as well as training and matches. It would give it the support that it needs to get it to Olympic level.
How do you handle the pressure of playing at such a competitive level?
I actually really enjoy it as you’re playing against other highly competitive netballers, so you’re only going to get better. It’s a really good atmosphere, you get to socialise and meet lots of new people that you probably wouldn’t have the chance to meet anywhere else. You’ll only get better when you’re playing against the best so I thrive from that.
Are you competitive when you’re not playing sport?
Yes! I think I’m highly competitive with anything that I do. That’s just my nature, whether it’s sport related or not.
If you didn’t play netball, would you have pursued another sport?
If I wasn’t playing netball I would have pursued basketball.
I had the choice between netball and basketball and I had to choose one, and netball won.
Which do you prefer, training or competing?
The competing; definitely. But the training sessions are obviously hard for a reason as we know we’re going to get better from them, but personally I like just getting down and playing a match.
What for you are the positive aspects of being involved in sport?
It makes you feel alive. The training we do encourages people to be healthy, eat a nutritious balanced diet and to train and exercise regularly so that’s a really positive thing.
Who inspires you?
Dame Kelly Holmes. I think a lot of people find her very inspirational because of her drive to be the best.
She’s been very successful in her sport and I think she has helped put a face to women’s sport as well. Without her a lot of women’s sport would go unseen. She’s an inspiration to all of us.
What advice would you give someone if they wanted to take up netball?
Just have fun and give it a go. If you’re not sure about netball go and try a local club, you can always find one close by. Just enjoy it - it’s all about meeting new people and enjoying yourself!
Louise Hudson, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
More netball on Sportsister:
Netball: Team Bath make it two wins from two
Netball: Loughborough Lightening secure first win
Sportsister meets Eboni Beckford-Chambers
Read our interview with England Coach Sue Hawkins
The Co-operative Group launched a bid earlier this year to make netball an Olympic sport. More than a quarter of a million people have leant their support to the bid in the hope that netball will become a participation sport at the Games.
To show your support, log onto Facebook and join the group “Bid to get netball in the 2012 Olympics”.
