Mahloko taking the netball world by storm

Boitumelo Mahloko’s star is fast rising in the world of netball. The 21-year-old was part of the squad that recently won the Africa Netball World Cup Qualifiers with the Spar Proteas and it’s only just the beginning for her.

The Limpopo born has represented the country in all levels starting with the Under-16 side that won the that won the Cossasa Games which she captained.

She’s also donned the green and gold for the Under-20 and Baby Proteas where she represented the country at the Netball World Youth Cup in Fiji in 2021. She notes the importance of getting through all stages of the sport.

“It was a development journey for me especially because I feel like I got the foundation of every junior team before I played for the next one. Every lesson I learnt in the junior teams was equipping me for the next one. It’s been a fruitful journey and a consistent one. That is what I appreciate the most about the whole journey. It’s very important because every level has something to teach you and I also don’t believe in skipping steps. Every junior team or team you go to before you eventually get to being a Spar Protea equips you for that professional space because every level has a degree of being professional, It’s important because you learn so much. It’s building blocks for the next one,” she says.

She however began her senior career began with the Free State Crinums in the 2019 season of the Telkom Netball League. She had an injury setback in the same year as her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) on her right knee, keeping her away from the court for a long time.

“It was a difficult time for me. I think simply because when I tore my ACL I didn’t even know what an ACL was or how long I would have to be out for. I didn’t have an idea of how physically painful it would be but throughout the whole process, I believe I had a good support system that was there for me throughout, helped me to get through it. I really had a good physio, biokineticist and I really had great friends and family around me consistently there for my mental well being. For me having an ACL (injury) is more mentally and physically although it’s very painful to get through. I also believe the type of player I was before and after the injury, I am a stronger player now mentally as well as physically,” she explains.

Mahloko could be having the best year of her senior career, not only did she play in her maiden Commonwealth Games this year but she was part of the first Gauteng Golden Fireballs to win the TNL where she played side by side her university coach, Bongiwe Msomi.

“Bongi Msomi is such a very versatile person and she has so advice to give. It’s always such an honour to play with her as a teammate and to have her as a coach. Her being in my journey is such an advantage because I played with her at Fireball and we were able to go back to UJ and say ‘listen at Fireballs this is what you could have worked on or could have done better’ and we are improving now in preparation for the Varsity Cup. She sees every step of my journey and development. She knows what to do when we’re back at UJ because it works to my advantage, she knows exactly what to work on. And she always has so much advice to give which I appreciate because she’s such a big player in the game, she’s such a big influence,” she explains.

Her first call up to the senior team was in 2021 where she was named part of the Proteas side for the Margaret Beckford Sunshine Series in Jamaica it was however called off with the hosts citing concerns about the ongoing Covid19 pandemic.

“I was very excited at first that I was called up to the team or more than anything, just to get a cap. But to realise that the tour was cancelled was heart breaking. After that we were told that we were going to go Ireland instead of Jamaica, so I was still kind of happy that I could possibly get my cap then they said that was not going to be a World Netball event, as in we wouldn’t be able to get (official) caps from it which further broke my heart. And to being in a team for over a year before getting my cap was something I really had to wait for and I was getting a little impatient at some point but when I eventually got it, it was actually worth the wait,” says Mahloko.

She is part of the first 24 players contracted by Netball South Africa, in their bid to push for a professional netball in South Africa.

“I think more than anything for me, it just shows that women in sport are being taken seriously because this is such a normal thing for men in sport to get professional contracts, to play professionally and for us to be recognised eventually shows how the sport is becoming professional. With it becoming professional it means we can compete at a professional stage quite often. It’s quite exciting to be paid for doing it because it’s like a job now and we’re not doing it for fun. We’re actually being taken serious, this is a sport that women work hard for,” she says.