New Zealand Woman’s Weekly 19
I
swear I’m just not meant for
smooth sailing.” You’ll never
die wondering what Katrina
Rore (nee Grant) thinks. The
Silver Ferns star operates a fairly
unfiltered approach to life,
but the past year has left even
her a little bit speechless.
While she’s now able to laugh
about it through her chat with
the Weekly, Katrina (32) admits
she’s been through the absolute
wringer over the last, rather
sensational, 18 months that saw
her enjoy the highest of highs
and suffer the lowest of lows.
“Okay, so here’s how it
happened,” she says with a
wry smile and holding up her
fingers to count down.
“First was Commonwealth
Games – the worst finish we’ve
ever had,” she begins. Netball
fans will remember the heart-
breaking moment Katrina burst
into tears when asked if she
had any pride left in the black
dress following the Ferns’
devastating loss to England.
“But then I got engaged,”
she continues. “Played some
netball, then I got married to
Joel, the most amazing man.
A week later, I got dropped
from the team. Then, the Pulse
won an ANZ Premiership.
Then I made the World Cuphe knows when I’m not myself.
I reckon that if you didn’t have
that, you’d be in trouble.”
Indeed, many athletes before
her have ventured down a dark
path in similar circumstances
but, after a few moments of
uncertainty, Katrina says she
knew what she had to do.
“Do I stop and try to have
babies?” was one option, as was
travel, or simply stopping to
enjoy married life with Joel.
“Or, do I fight?” she
continues. “Eventually, I realised
that this was put in front of me
for a reason, and it motivated
me to want to get better.
“I love a challenge and I’ve
never been one to chuck in the
towel just because things get
hard. So I committed to trying
to get back in the team.”
Instead of throwing herself
into rigorous training, Katrina
approached her comeback with
a new priority – balance. Having
realised her life was dominated
by sport, the Pulse captain took
the summer to actually enjoy
life with Joel, family and friends.
She got into other sportsteam − and then I got injured.
“I mean, come on. I feel like
the last year has aged me about- It’s like the sport universe
was saying, ‘Here’s your dream...
oh wait, just kidding!’”
Comparing her last year or so
in the black bib to a rollercoaster
almost seems too much of an
understatement for the talented
defender, and Katrina admits
she was “gutted” to be left out
of the squad. While she tried to
be philosophical about the
decision, it hurt.
At the time she said, “No
doubt the last few days have
been tough, but things happen
for a reason. I need to go away
over the summer and work on
my netball consistency. I’ve never
been the most naturally talented
athlete. But I make up for that
with hard work... the World Cup
in July is still my goal.”
Speaking today, Katrina
confides that it certainly took
more than a few days to come
to terms with the heartache.
“There are so many emotions
that go along with it all,” she
says.”Honestly, I don’t think
people really understand the
massive mental side of sport.
It’s huge. But I’m very lucky,
Joel is so good – he’s a keeper!
He deals with my dark days and
Despite many setbacks,
Katrina put her game face
on and worked hard to earn
another call-up for the Silver
Ferns, jetting off for the
World Cup in England in July.“