How did you celebrate the end of your gruelling Oxford interview? I can recall slouching exhaustedly at home, and alcohol-fuelled rants about the interview process. Eloise Waldon-Day had a rather more constructive outlet for releasing interview angst: getting on the next train to Sheffield for England u-19 netball training.
Fascinatingly there appears a strong correlation between netballing and academic excellence. Waldon-Day remarks that “out of 20 of us in the squad, five got all As and A*s at GCSE”. Rather than sport hindering work, she believes “exercise helps your brain” – even during examination periods.
When training with the u-19 squad, her life was hectic indeed. An average week comprised five core stability sessions; two endurance; two speed; two agility; and four two-hour netball sessions. Add in all weekend netball training with England every third weekend, and it is a wonder Waldon-Day had time to take examinations at all, let alone record such stunning results.
While at times she admits you “feel like you are losing perspective”, there was always more to life for her. Inevitably, this caused problems – “I had huge issues with the England set-up because I was prioritising something over netball”, as when she had to miss a week’s training for her successful interview at Trinity College to read History.
Waldon-Day was selected for the u-19 netball squad aged only 16, and played successfully throughout the 2008/09 season. However, she had never viewed netball as a potential career; it had a “glass ceiling” and she opted not to retrial for the 2009/10 campaign.
She is clearly frustrated that “in Australia, netball players are household names; it’s a huge deal over there, similar to male sports” while it receives negligible publicity in England. She considers it a damning indictment of the lack of work the netball authorities do to promote a sport which every girl plays at school that she herself “can’t name a single netball player”.
Waldon-Day clearly cherishes the “fantastic experience” of national honours. Her achievements in juggling netball with academia and representing her county in athletics finals certainly provide a strong riposte to the stereotype of Oxford students as nerdy bookworms. Her considerable netball skills are now on display for the Oxford Blues.
