By Matt Fotia
After decade of international netball, dynamic Jamaican goal attack Shanice Beckford was ready to call time on her career at the end of the 2023 Netball World Cup.
The pull of devoting more time to her work, her family and her partner were calling her.
But Beckford's career trajectory had other plans.
Fresh off claiming a bronze medal with her Sunshine Girls at last year's World Cup, Beckford was handed her first Suncorp Super Netball contract, with the West Coast Fever keen to gain the services of another Jamaican superstar.
“I was definitely looking towards playing less netball, but I guess the netball gods won’t allow me to,” Beckford said, just a few weeks into her first pre-season with the Fever, something she wouldn’t have even dreamt about just mere months ago.
“It was a surprise (the Fever offer). I wasn’t looking towards getting a contract at this point in my career, so it was nerve wracking and exciting.
"But it's always been a desire of mine to come over and play in the SSN because it’s one of the highest standards a netballer could possibly play in.”
Beckford debuted for the Sunshine Girls in 2013 and has been a fixture in the squad ever since. Her time in green won’t be the first time the Jamaican veteran has plied her trade overseas. Back in 2015, at just 20, she spent a season in the UK with Northumbria.
And despite the difference in game styles – and of course some rules unique to the SSN – Beckford believes the lessons she learnt in the NSL will hold her in good stead this season.
“I know this league is different from the English league, but having an opportunity over there will definitely help me, in terms of living away from home for a long period, the travelling and just having an insight into what is expected in these high-quality environments,” she said.
Beckford couldn’t be happier with her new environment, with the Fever doing everything in their power to make sure the test veteran has been able to assimilate as best as possible.
While the presence of national teammates Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard and fellow new Fever recruit Kadie-Ann Dehaney has helped Beckford adjust to life in not only Perth, but to life as a full-time professional netballer.
“I’m loving the environment,” she said.
“Obviously I have Jhaniele and Kadie-Ann here, but everyone has been very welcoming and everything has been so good so far.
“(Preseason) is totally different to what I’m used to back home in Jamaica in terms of the training and the times. The first two weeks have been tough – learning the Fever standards, the Fever way of doing things. Back home I would have to train in the evenings after work, but here I don’t have to work because this is work.
“But I’m finding it pretty interesting because it’s a different level and different type of structure and I think that’s what has been missing from my game and it’s a new level (of performance) for me to unlock.”
Don’t expect Beckford to be overawed when she finally does make her SSN debut though.
As part of her preparation in the Sunshine Girls environment, she explained she has watched hours upon hours of Suncorp Super Netball action and is confident that this incidental research will come in handy this season.
Beckford is prepared to shoot from anywhere. “We have to watch games to analyse, because most of our international opponents play in the SSN, so we have to see what they’re doing which means I’ve watched a lot of SSN,” she said.
“That will help because I’ll have an idea of what I’m up against and what to do with my preparation.”
That being said, Beckford is well aware there will be plenty of challenges ahead, with a renewed focus on consistency, her work in combination with Fowler-Nembhard and of course utilising the Suncorp Super Shot.
But her plan to combat these challenges – and a multitude of others – is simple.
“On-court it will be about staying consistent in combinations and doing the necessary work to be doing to make the most of the Super Shot period,” she said,
“Off-court it’s the recovery stuff in terms of getting the fuel that I need, because sometimes we can get so lost in the training and playing and neglect the downtime that we need, like going to the beach and getting refreshed.
“I’m just embracing the journey, whatever comes I’ll take it on head on.”
