Time will often show that what is a considerable sacrifice today will be one of the most significant investments you have made in life.
It is why the 18-year-old Timonique Corbett is not fazed about driving more than 500 kilometres a week to play rugby at Tuks. She is part of the Delta Drone Tuks women’s sevens side that will play three European tournaments from the end of March. Corbett stays in Rustenburg.
She used to be passionate about playing netball. Still, everything changed after Riaan van der Merwe (Tuks sevens coach) and a few players hosted a sevens rugby clinic at Hoërskool Wagpos in Brits. It could be said that she got hooked the first time she touched a rugby ball.
Before the end of last year, she played her first tournament at Harlequins for the Delta Drone Tuks sevens team. A definite highlight was scoring her first try.
“I absolutely love playing rugby. In rugby, you push yourself to limits you did not think you could. That is what gets my adrenaline pumping.”
Corbett got “bumped around” quite often as centre or goal attack in netball, but it did not entirely prepare her for what awaited on a rugby field. She still remembers that first time she had to make a tackle.
“It was during the Harlequins tournament. This big girl came ‘storming’ towards me. I knew I had to commit to the tackle, but for a moment or two, I was uncertain how to go about it. Then the hit happened. I immediately realised my execution was far from perfect. I got banged on the head by the girl’s knee. For a moment, I was dazed. It did not matter. I did what was needed. That was all that mattered.”
The Tuks team practises on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. It means Corbett spends approximately nine hours a week in a car driving from Rustenburg to Pretoria and back. To many, it may seem a bit much.
To Corbett, however, the sacrifice boils down to giving up time that matters for something that matters more, which in her case is rugby. Next year might be easier as she plans to study at Tuks.
The Delta Drone Tuks team’s international itinerary is quite impressive. They will start playing in Toulon, France (31 March to 1 April). Then they are off to Lyon (5-6 April) and finally Melrose in Scotland. In May, the team will play tournaments in France and Portugal.
Still, that is not all. Delta Drone Tuks will also be in action in Prague or Brussels, Sydney, Munchen and Dubai.
