Carrying life in one’s womb for nine months is such an amazing yet overwhelming experience women have over the years proved stronger to champion.
It is a herculean task even the least respected woman in society has managed to prove capable of naturally executing.
Working out and exercising is a healthy routine most people dread to go through, even those that are desperate to achieve something –lose or gain weight– love the outcome but hate the journey.
Imagine pregnancy combined with team sports like volleyball that includes a pattern of workouts that range from jumps, squats and stretches? What a strong woman that athlete would be!
The Harare Volleyball League has greatly inspired women who are defying the cliché that once married or pregnant female athletes automatically retire from professional sports, which has, however, been evident in women’s football in the past.
When she discovered she was pregnant, Nyengeterai Guyo (22), a policewoman at Harare’s Police General Headquarters who plays for Starz Volleyball Club, planned to stop playing the game at the end of her first trimester.
Seven months into her first pregnancy, she has not been able to resist “the feel good temptation of playing, with the green light from my gynaecologist.”
“It is the passion for the game that keeps me playing with this child, I may play till the last day. Playing volleyball has been a journey for me and I decided I couldn’t be stopped by pregnancy when everyone from my husband to my family supports me,” said Guyo.
Vimbai Chawasarira (22) and Juliet Jaravaza (26) are also law enforcers plying their trade with Support Unit and Zimbabwe Republic Police Morris Depot Volleball clubs, respectively.
Chawasarira is also seven months pregnant, while Jaravaza is in her second month. They have each other for support and motivation from the sport team they love.
The women have proved an American Sports Psychologist, Joan Steidinger, right. In her new book Sisterhood in Sports: How Female Athletes Collaborate and Compete, Steidinger points out that “women and girls tend to have BFFs, collaborate during periods of stress, express empathy for one another, worry about themselves and others and desire to have fun in
sports, which makes their experiences of sports and competition different from their male counterparts.”
sports, which makes their experiences of sports and competition different from their male counterparts.”
Chawasarira said: “I have support and motivation from my teammates,” while Jaravaza who is carrying her second child spoke from experience after delivering her first son the same day she had played a volleyball match.
“I played until the last day and I went to labor after coming from a volleyball match. My son was healthy at 3,9kgs and I had a short labor,” said Jaravaza who named her son after the official FiVB indoor volleyball game ball for international competitions including the 2012 London Olympics, Mikasa.
No comments:
Post a Comment