Kwangwa’s blessing in disguise

THE news of the British government lifting its special restrictions on travellers arriving from the 11 African countries that were on the “Red List” should have come as sweet music to Gems and Surrey Storm Goal Defender Felistus Kwangwa.

Prior to this, the Zimbabwe netball starlet found herself in a precarious situation as she remained stuck at home in Harare while her English netball club began their preparations for the 2022 season in earnest.

Ever the optimist, Kwangwa, however, chose to view this as a glass half full scenario.

Being stuck at home has offered her the opportunity to spend the Christmas holidays with her immediate family, having done so on foreign soil last year.

However, at the back of her mind, losing out on the first two training sessions has weighed heavily on her.

“This means I will be lagging behind when I eventually link up with my teammates,” said Kwangwa.

“I feel that I am a little behind, and hope it will not take me too long to fit in very well when I eventually join them. I want to compete at my best level with them, or at the very least as close as possible.

“For now, I am trying my best to stay fit, as I do not want to have a lot of challenges trying to catch up,” she said.

Kwangwa was signed by Surrey Storm last year on a one-year contract, which saw her return home in July. Despite the UK top league side’s poor show during the season, they re-signed her for the 2022 season.

Unfortunately, she could not join up with the team for pre-season preparations, which started in October, as she had to attend national duty at the Pent Series and African

Championships in Namibia in November.

After colourful appearances at the two tournaments, Kwangwa was ready to reunite with her English side, before the Omicron variant-induced travel ban put those plans on ice.

Surrey Storm have since been forced to reschedule Kwangwa’s travel plans to after the Christmas holidays.

“I am happy to be celebrating Christmas in Zimbabwe with my family, which is something that I have been waiting for after missing out last year,” she said.

“Last year I spent my Christmas in England, and it was all too new.

“I did have a good time though.

“I stayed with the Duncans, who were nice and as good as family to me.

“It hardly felt like I was away from home,” said the Goal Defender.

For their part, Surrey Storm have given Kwangwa a strict training programme, one she has to adhere to in order to stay fit.

Her day starts with a morning jog and sprints at 5am, before proceeding to the gym.

While strength and conditioning are crucial, she also has to find spare time to focus on her ball work.

“The first training sessions are very crucial, and missing out means that I have a lot of catching up to do,” Kwangwa said.

“It means that I have to be faithful to my programme.

“I have even decided to go the extra mile, and make sure that I do not have a lot of challenges fitting in when I go back”.

For all the effort and time she has put in, Kwangwa still finds ball work a bit of a challenge.

“Individual ball work is not very effective as when we do it as a team.

“Unfortunately, I have to make it work because I cannot just sit back,” she said.