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Veronica Gwaze Sports Reporter

HER first touch was simply elegant and well-calculated!

These were the words that the Zimbabwe senior netball team head coach Ropafadzo Mutsauki used to describe Gems’ goal keeper Elizabeth Mushore’s debut.

The lanky 21-year-old defender, who also turns out for Platinum Queens, made a stylish first appearance at the recent 2023 Netball World Cup Qualifiers in Pretoria, South Africa.

She was introduced as a third quarter replacement for Tanaka Makusha to thrill the fans to a spectacular turnover in her first touch of the game which they won 49-41 to rivals Botswana.

The Spar Zimbabwe-sponsored Gems went on to qualify for the 2023 Netball World Cup which is scheduled for Cape Town, South Africa, between July 28 and August 6 next year.

For her debut, which had to be delayed by an ankle injury which resulted in her failing to report for her initial call-up ahead of the Pent Series last year, Mushore did justice to make her arrival felt.

“When the call-up came, I was scared considering that I was to make a debut at such a tournament… We needed to qualify for the World Cup and I did not want to cost the team,” she said.

The towering star reckons her netball journey is a typical rags-to-riches tale.

She was introduced to the sport during her primary school days in Shamva. Being an all-rounder at the time, she never imagined donning the netball national team colours someday, let alone globetrotting.

However, proceeding to Seke 1 High School in Chitungwiza, one of her teachers, based on height, forced her to focus more on netball.

Instantly she fitted into the school team, birthing her love for the game.

In 2017, she was selected to take part in the National Youth Games in Victoria Falls.

However, her father would not let her travel. As fate would have it, the following year, she was again selected to play at the National Youth Games in Hwange.

It took her mother’s intervention for her father to allow her to go.

And yet the tournament had to be her breakthrough.

It is at that tournament that Mushore was spotted and offered a Pamushana Mission scholarship.

“I did not think twice about the offer, I simply said yes because I had always wanted to be at a boarding school and there came a chance out of the court,” she recalls.

Mushore was to bag countless accolades with the school team who have over the years made a name for themselves as a netball powerhouse in the country.

In 2019 Mushore was part of the team that represented Zimbabwe at the Confederation Schools Sports Association of Southern African (COSASA) Games in Namibia.

Interestingly, while she was outclassing on the court, she also excelled in class.

After passing her Advanced Level she enrolled at Reformed Church University in Masvingo where she is currently studying towards a degree in Social Work.

From her netball proceeds, the Shooter/Defender is now her family’s breadwinner and also pays her own school fees.

“I never thought netball would take me this far, it has ceased to be just a sport but a job and literally my life,” said Mushore.

“I love the game in such a way that if I do play, I do not feel good, I am now the breadwinner of my family and when I am on court, I am just happy.

“Among others, Pamushana’s Mr Mlambo literally handed me a lifeline, his mentorship had a huge impact on my sporting career and to let him down at this point is not an option which is why I work hard.”

Mushore feels her national team inclusion and debut at the World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa is part of her hard work’s dividends.

She still has memories of her first camp, at Girls High School.

The Platinum Queens star, who plays goal shooter at her club, had to be converted into a defender.

This, she said, meant she had to adjust and fit into the new position.

However, as a defender, she self-doubted her abilities.

“There were a lot of seniors in camp and being a debutant, everything was new, adding to that my position had changed so I had to adjust and fit in,” she recalls.

“Training had changed, I had to double my work efforts because the competition was intense.

“I did not think I would be able to deliver, surprisingly the coaches loved my game which gave me the zeal to push harder.

“For me netball is more than just a game so I can go to lengths to keep myself in shape because it means life to my family.”