Burger’s Great Trek
‘‘I realised the impact of it when Leana [de Bruin, left] sent me a message saying I’m the third South African in the Kiwi team. Being able to be part of that legacy is amazing.’’
Karin Burger, right
Before her daughter embarked on her Silver Ferns journey seven years ago, Karin Burger’s mother decided to seek some advice from Leana de Bruin.
Burger may have grown up in South Africa but was so inspired by what de Bruin and Irene van Dyk had achieved when they moved to New Zealand that her dream was to represent the Silver Ferns and not the Proteas.
However, her mother wanted to make sure that dream was an achievable one before she let her ambitious 18-year-old daughter move to Wellington on a whim.
But as soon as de Bruin emailed back some words of encouragement, Burger was on her way.
She joined a club in the Hutt Valley and spent the next six years honing her skills in New Zealand’s amateur ranks before eventually catching the eye of Central Pulse coach Yvette McCausland-Durie.
Burger’s game has continued to grow and now, after two seasons in the ANZ Premiership and a positional switch from goal defence to wing defence, she has reached the target she set out to achieve when she waved goodbye to South Africa – she has cracked the Silver Ferns.
The 25-year-old midcourter said her first international call-up was welcome news, receiving a phone call from the New Zealand selectors the morning after the Pulse’s stunning collapse in the final against the Southern Steel.
‘‘Monday it basically felt like somebody had died. It was such a horrible day. All I could think about was the last three minutes but when I got that call it basically flipped that whole day around,’’ said Burger, who is now in line to play against her country of birth in the upcoming Quad Series.
‘‘It’s just amazing to know the big move and all the sacrifices pay off. The fact it actually paid off is amazing.’’
Burger said her Silver Ferns call-up was made even more special when a text came through from de Bruin, who had remembered the email from her mother all those years ago.
‘‘I realised the impact of it when Leana sent me a message saying I’m the third South African in the Kiwi team. Being able to be part of that legacy is amazing.
‘‘When I came over here and met her for the first time it was like ‘oh hey, you’re that girl that the mum contacted me about’. Her and Irene have been really good helping me while I’ve been in New Zealand so I’m really thankful for that.’’
The Pulse were guilty of making four crucial errors in the final four minutes of the ANZ Premiership final, which allowed the Steel to sink seven consecutive goals and snatch the championship from their grasp. Despite setting the pace in the regular season, Burger said the team’s inexperience showed in the decider.
‘‘I keep trying to replay it in my head. The blame can’t be put on anybody.
‘‘The Steel are a team that fights back until the very end and we knew that going into the game and should have fought back ourselves,’’ Burger said.
‘‘But we’re really inexperienced if you think about it. We’ve got some really young players and I’m quite inexperienced in finals situations at that level too. I think it maybe showed on court.
‘‘But it’s learnings and working towards next year we can look at that and know what it feels like. We’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again next year because every time you think about it it’s like a stab in the heart.’’
Burger will travel with the Pulse to the Super Club tournament in Nelson before joining the Silver Ferns for their Quad Series preparation.