Townsville Firebird plans her next move

A RETURN to the netball court has been a long time coming for Kim Jenner, but now the mindset has shifted to a Super Netball title.

The Townsville product has resumed training with the Queensland Firebirds as coronavirus restrictions ease and the national competition aims for an August 1 comeback.

As the pandemic put sport on ice, Jenner found a base back in North Queensland with her family and admits it was bittersweet to say goodbye when she headed for Brisbane.

But with a start date in sight and plenty of goals to tick off she said being back in a team environment had been met with resounding energy and enthusiasm to bounce back from their bottom placed finish last year.

“I guess when we were at home there was nothing really to work towards, we didn’t have a date so it was just keeping the fitness going,” Jenner said. “Definitely it gives us a target and it gives us a time – it really gives us that motivation and helps push us.

“We know everything isn’t going to be perfect when we first touch the ball again. It’s making sure we’re progressing each session, it will come really quickly when we blow the cobwebs out.”

While sporting codes across the country have been forced to call on its players to accept pay cuts, the decision to do so was done with little fuss in netball circles. Players agreed to a plan in which those who were paid below $61,007 would receive Jobkeeper payments, while athletes above this threshold would sacrifice 70 per cent of their salary from June 22 to September 30.

Jenner applauded the united front of the sport’s community, and with that behind them they could now focus on their main objective – to lift the Super Netball trophy.

“The title has always been what we’ve been working towards, we’ve certainly been very excited to start the season and start chipping away at that,” she said. “But for now it’s getting the feel for each other and the court again and going from there.”