Melbourne Mavericks’ Shimona Jok reveals she almost walked away from netball after ‘devastating’ 2023
Goal shooter Shimona Jok felt she had been ‘thrown out the door’ by netball and was ready to turn her back on the sport for good, until she received a lifeline from the league’s newest team.
Shimona Jok was ready to walk away from netball.
The Jamaican goal shooter felt like she had been “thrown out the door by the sport like she was nothing” after she was initially overlooked for a 2024 Super Netball contract at the end of a tumultuous campaign last season.
Jok’s former club the Collingwood Magpies had terminated its involvement in netball and the towering goaler had been unable to find a new team in a stressful post-season compounded by the sport’s bitter and protracted CPA dispute.
She felt underappreciated and unrecognised by the sport, which she had been fully prepared to turn her back on.
“I felt like I wasn’t valued, I felt like there was no recognition for who I am as a person and what I bring to netball itself,” Jok (nee Nelson) said.
“It wasn’t just not getting a contract, it was just knowing I wasn’t even recognised. It was just like ‘Oh, yeah, she didn’t get a contract, move on’.
“It even made me think ‘Why did I give up a sport that I love, basketball, for something that just literally threw me out the door like I was nothing.
“Those were the moments where I thought ‘Shit, what did I do to myself’.
“There were some moments where I would cry myself to sleep and my mum would be like ‘It’s OK, Shim, just book your flight and come home’. I was this close to going back home.
“That was devastating (last year). There was a point where I was like ‘I’ll just try to focus on me and just try to build my mental health back’ because I’m not going to lie - that period was very hard.”
Fortunately for Jok, the career lifeline arrived.
Firstly, signing as a training partner with the Melbourne Mavericks in January, before she was elevated early last month to the new Super Netball franchise’s active roster as its 11th player - somewhat controversially - following the season-ending leg injury to fellow goaler Sasha Glasgow.
Jok got her on-court call-up for the Mavericks’ round three match against the ladder-leading West Coast Fever when she made a shock appearance in the goal keeper’s bib to help combat the 198cm Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard.
“(Initially) being offered a training partner role, I’m not going to lie, it was a bit undermining,” Jok said.
“But I looked on the positive side and thought ‘You know what, you are still going to be in an SSN environment, you are still going to have access to high-quality training, you are still going to have access to gym and when you get that opportunity, I want you to rip it with both hands’.
“Me being given this opportunity by (Mavericks’ coach) Tracey (Neville) was really amazing, I was overwhelmed.
“At one point I was like, ‘What if I had given up? What if I had just thrown in the towel?’.
“What if I had gone that way and just taken the easy way out? I was so grateful for the moment. I could not even sleep (before the Fever game) because I was so nervous.
“I was like ‘Will I know how to play? Will I be able to shoot and catch the ball?’ Next thing you know, I’m out there shooting and then next thing you know I’m a goal keeper.”
Jok’s climb off the netball canvass was capped last week when she shot the match-winning goal for the Mavericks to seal the team’s first victory in Super Netball in a one-goal thriller against the Sunshine Coast Lightning.
“That win was so emotional and it meant a lot to us,” Jok said.
“I thought ‘I’m going to stand my ground, even if I have to go inside out and rip that ball in, I’m going to get that shot and I’m going to make that win for us’.
“I felt at that moment, everything that had happened prior, me not getting contracted, me almost giving up, to me building a positive environment at Mavericks, I think that’s what solidified it for me.
“Getting that win was so unreal.”
Jok’s signing as the Maverick’s 11th player under the league’s nominated athlete rule raised eyebrows given the criteria, which allows teams to promote one of their training partners to a full-time contract for six months during the Super Netball season, suggesting the position should promote development of a young Australian player.
The 25-year-old qualified by virtue of her age (26 or under), permanent residency and the fact she served only as a reserve and did not take to the court for Jamaica at the last World Cup, effectively making her eligible to represent Australia under World Netball regulations and ticking the 11th player checklist.
“I don’t know how they made it happen, but they made it work,” Jok said.
“I think, as they say, just that loophole of me not taking the court for the World Cup.
“Any opportunity is a great opportunity for me and I don’t care that it’s a minimum wage contract …. I don’t care about the money as long as I can get on the court and have an impact for this team, that’s what purely matters for me.”
While Jok is not lacking in motivation after almost having her netball career taken away, she has drawn plenty of inspiration from her injured teammate Glasgow on the sidelines.
Glasgow suffered a lower leg fracture during a pre-season match in February.
“Just seeing ‘Sash’ and how she gets up and do what is required of her also gets me up because it is very misfortunate,” Jok said.
“Also to see how she gets around us, she is positive, she is smashing her rehab.
“Just her being here to show that an injury is ‘Not going to stop me, I’m going to be here and I think that selflessness comes from and that’s what we’re building on in here.”
After her unexpected cameo in goal keeper, Jok was unsure if she would be called on to make another foray into defence this season, but said she was willing to do whatever role the team - and coach - required of her.
“It just purely depends on what Tracey wants in that time and in that moment and if she just wants an impact player,” Jok said.
“It might not be to get an intercept, but just someone to slow the play down, get the voice up down there. If or when that chance comes I will just grab it with both hands.”
Having gone through the wringer at the end of last season, Jok is now relaxed about what comes next in her netball career.
Her pursuits off the court have helped provide perspective as she has spent time working in the intensive care unit at Royal Melbourne Hospital as a nurses assistant when possible.
“I never actually thought this harsh moment with netball just throwing me out the door would help me find my love again,” Jok said.
“Being in an intensive care unit …. you’re the primary carer, people depend on you to keep their lives. It’s their lives, not a game, it’s dead serious.
“There are no words to explain that feeling. You are valued there, you are important there, like they don’t just throw you out the door. You are there to make a difference in someone’s actual life, (for) their families.
“I think doing that in the ICU has also helped me on the court. It has brought out a different Shimona. It has always been there, but I think working the ICU has helped me get it out and then here it just comes out naturally.
“After this year, it’s just whatever happens really. If I get a contract, if I don’t get a contract, it’s OK. I still have my nursing role which makes me really feel like a human again.
“Fingers crossed something will happen. If not, I have a plan B.”
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