The Gauteng Jaguars are not only unbeaten in the current Brutal Fruit Netball Series, they’re also the first team to go past the 400-goal marker.
Not that she will, but goal shooter Chanté Louw can claim to have played a significant role in the Jaguars’ success so far. She’s established herself as ‘Ms Consistency’, netting goal after goal during games during the series.
Watching her play, it’s hard to think of Louw still being a rookie in the Brutal Fruit Series. Last year she only got to play two quarters for the Jaguars. Her first full game for the Jaguars was when the team played in New Zealand. And that wasn’t as goal shooter – she played goal defence.
There’s no secret to Louw’s rise as a shooter. She is driven by hunger to be the best. At the moment, playing for Tuks and the Jaguars means there’s never any guarantee that she’ll get to take to the court as she is not the No 1 shooter.
Ine-Mari Venter, who played for the Proteas at this year’s Commonwealth Games, is her senior, which means Louw usually only gets game time when Venter can’t play.
Until now, an ankle injury has kept Venter off court in the Brutal Fruit Series, but she might be ready to play the semi-final and final.
Louw accepts that she could be benched if Venter is fit to play but makes no secret of the fact that she wants to establish herself as one of South Africa’s top goal shooters.
That’s why she’s often seen doing extra training, honing her skills to near perfection.
According to Louw, to be successful as a shooter means one can never rest on one’s laurels: ‘Goal shooting is all about confidence. It’s easy when you keep on putting the ball away during a game to get into a comfort zone. The challenge I set myself is to remain focused at all times. When you score, you have to forget about it and refocus on your next attempt immediately.
‘The same goes for when you get off to a bad start during a game. You can’t afford to let yourself get worked up about your failures because then you will let the team down.
‘As goal shooter, you also have to be able to adapt your game in the circle depending on who is playing goal attack, as each player has got their unique style of playing.’
Sport can be cruel at times. There are countless stories to be told about teams dominating in a competition only to get unstuck in the final. It’s like the old adage: what comes up must come down.
Louw said that she and her teammates are wary about getting overconfident, especially since they had not yet lost. ‘We are constantly reminding ourselves that any team is only as good as the last game they played. At the moment, we’re not even thinking about the final. We still have to play the KwaZulu-Natal Stars, and then there is the semi-final.’
Photo: Louw in action for the Jaguars, by Reg Caldecott