West Coast Fever midcourter Verity Charles is focused on ‘controlling the controllable’ this season as the Club manoeuvres another hurdle, with the Perth Metro area being put into a hard lockdown this week due to COVID-19.
The Squad had been training hard since early January ahead of the 2021 Suncorp Super Netball season due to start on May 1.
“We really hit the ground running this year with training,” said Charles.
“The level of fitness and skill that all the girls have brought back this season is epic. Stace has really been pushing us and I’ve really been loving training and getting back into netty.”
Since Sunday evening, West Coast Fever have been training individually until the COVID-19 restrictions ease and they can recommence training as a team.
“You just have to be adaptable in these situations, I just focus on controlling the controllable. We were on such a good roll with training and it’s quite frustrating to put a hold on that, but we adapt and move on,” said Charles.
“This morning I was down at the oval in my mask and training on ball work and fitness, we were able to grab a few weights from the gym and our Strength and Conditioning Coach has tailored a program for each player based on what weights we’ve got at home.”
Charles’ off-season looked a little different this year as she not only prepares for the 2021 Suncorp Super Netball season, but an Origin Diamonds camp ahead of the Constellation Cup series after being named amongst the 2021 Origin Diamonds squad.
“I actually gave myself more of a break than I ever have, it was a long season, a long year and mentally I think I needed to step away a little bit,” said Charles.
“When I say break though, I mean from netball. I stayed active in different ways, Nath (Verity’s husband) and I did a lot of training together; boxing, runs, lots of mountain biking...I just mixed things up a bit and it meant when I came back to training, I was refreshed and super eager to hit the court.”
“I’m super excited about the Diamonds camp, it’s really different because you’re outside of your comfort zone. I guess at Fever you can get quite relaxed as you’re with the girl's day in day out, they’re almost like family here. But being in a different environment you push yourself to new limits and you’re amongst players that really are some of the bests in the world, so I am looking forward to just soaking up the atmosphere.”
