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There are few Kiwis more qualified to talk about what it takes to get to the top of the sporting world, and stay there, than Irene van Dyk. The former Silver Ferns netball legend played 72 tests for South Africa before moving to New Zealand 25 years ago and going on to play another 145 tests for her adopted homeland. She became the world’s most capped netballer in 2005 and the Silver Ferns’ most capped player in 2010. Van Dyk, who serves as a Netball New Zealand Ambassador, took the time to share words of wisdom with athletes and the audience who attended the recent Howick Sports Awards staged at the Howick Pakuranga Community and Sports Centre. She took questions on her career and sport in general from the event’s MC, Wendy Meyer, and the floor, and also told some hilarious anecdotes including about the time one of her international opponents spat in her ear during a test match. The first question was how she handled the pressure of big games, especially when representing her country. “It comes with experience,” van Dyk said. “Obviously when you play your first test, no one knows you, you don’t know what you’re doing, so you fake it till you make it. “Then you go through your sporting career, and you start to build a name, and people start to recogise you and you become better. “The expectation of yourself and of people around you and your friends and teammates becomes more, and that’s where the pressure comes in. “The most important thing is if you train and practise harder than the game is, when it comes, you will fly through it.” Meyer asked van Dyk what kept her motivated during the toughest moments of her career. She replied she wanted to do it for herself, “as an athlete you are incredibly selfish”. “It’s all about you. It’s about you getting enough sleep, it’s about you doing the best you can, it’s you training, it’s you investing in you to become the best person you can be. “You motivate yourself. You can’t always rely on external motivations, because if it doesn’t come from within it’s going to putter out somewhere along the line. “Then, if you’re lucky enough to have parents who support you, who believe in you, it’s for them, it’s for your family, and if you’re lucky enough to become a mother or a father, you do it for your kids, because sport is always bigger than you are. “You are there for a short time. Enjoy it.” Van Dyk said the best piece of coaching advice she ever received was to “give it everything you’ve got”.
