‘For them’: Cholhok on her motivation

By Stephanie Smarrelli 
 

For Queensland Firebirds’ newest recruit, the journey to the world’s best netball league has been unique... to say the least. 

From fleeing to Uganda from South Sudan as a child, to now raising a family of her own, Mary Cholhok is preparing for her next life-changing chapter. 

The 27-year-old has been signed by the Firebirds for the 2025 Suncorp Super Netball season and will be making the move from the UK, which she has called home for the last six years. 

But for the 201cm goaler, not taking this risk would have felt like a huge “missed opportunity”. 

“It was one of my ambitions to play in SSN towards the end of my career and careers end very quickly nowadays so when the opportunity came, I took my chance. But it wasn't easy,” Cholhok said. 

Having spent her time in the UK with one club, Loughborough Lightning, Cholhok found it tough to make the decision to leave it behind. 

“Loughborough in a way feels like home, I felt comfortable but in the back of my head I was like if you're comfortable you are missing a big opportunity,” she said. 
 
“My Loughborough Lightning coach has been very supportive of me making this decision, she was the one to make sure I'm going into the right hands which is really beautiful to find in sport.” 

The goaler is looking forward to the move to Australia, excited to have her family coming to Brisbane with her to support her as she adjusts to the fast pace of SSN, a task she imagines will be challenging. 

“I'm really happy my family will be there for me. I'm doing it for them, every time I feel my head is down, I'll have someone to look up to and say I'm doing it for him and I'm doing it for myself,” she said. 

Joining Cholhok at the Firebirds will be fellow Super League departee Imogen Allison. 

Cholhok is glad she’ll have Allison to lean on when times get tough. 

“Imo is really good, the fact we’re coming from the same league even though it’s not the same team it’s good to know you won’t be the only import which was the case for me the first year I played in the Super League.” she said. 

“I felt out of place, not in a bad way but if I were homesick there was nobody to relate to, not being the only import this time will help.  

"I cannot wait to create a friendship with Imo on and off the court.”  

Having played against the Origin Diamonds for the first time earlier this year, Cholhok has learned a few lessons ahead of playing against more Australians in SSN. 

“You must be consistent; I learned you can't just be smart and creative. If something is not working, you need to recognise it and not take 15 minutes to realise,” she said. 

"The other lesson I’ll take over there is to have a shot at every style of play in terms of movements and being confident to put up long shots because I know I got that in me.  

“Trusting myself and not overthinking anything is important; I’ll remind myself I can do anything.” 
 

OVERCOMING ADVERSITY 

Cholhok truly can do anything having arrived in Uganda as a refugee when she was a child, she’s defied the odds to be one of the world’s best netballers today. 

As a young adult, Cholhok never could have imagined she’d be travelling the world playing sport as a career, especially not after the birth of her son Jackson who she had in 2017. 

Cholhok leaned on her mother and uncle for support who both encouraged her to return to netball after giving birth and not long after her return she was asked to join Uganda’s national team. 

“My mum and uncle were happy for me to go back to sport, because that’s where I found my peace,” she said. 

“When I got the opportunity to go into a national team, it was a big call because I couldn’t play sport while I was pregnant, I had spent a lot of time not doing anything,” Cholhok said. 

Upon returning from representing Uganda at the National African Cup in Zambia, Cholhok was surprised to learn she had been scouted to play in the UK’s Netball Super League. 

"I didn’t know what to say I was shocked because I didn't see myself going any further than the national team,” she said. 

While most people would jump at the opportunity Cholhok found the decision really difficult to make because it meant leaving her son behind. 

“The visa I was coming on was a student visa, it didn't support me to bring Jackson, I had no social network in the UK so to bring him I’d also need to bring my mum,” she said. 

“My son had to stay back, and that was a hard decision, but my mum promised she would take care of him more than I could; she’s a mother of five and said I would know he was in better hands and shouldn't worry about him. 

“Six months there and then I'd come back to see him, my mum really made me feel comfortable making the decision.” 

Looking back on her time away from Jackson, Cholhok touched on how difficult it was to miss out on part of his childhood. 

 “It was hard to play without seeing him at all, six months turned into 10 and it was hard when I went back home because it felt so short,” she said.  

"That's how I juggled it until last year when I managed to bring him to the UK.  

“The more I stayed in the UK, the more connections I had to help me if I needed to bring him to training or had to be at uni. The support made it easy, and my boyfriend who I’ve been dating for four years made me feel comfortable like I had a family and sense of belonging.” 

Cholhok’s connection to her son continues to grow, the 27-year-old finding it easier to adapt to life’s different challenges with him by her side. 

“You'll be surprised how adaptable kids are, I take that from my son,” she said. 

“Moving here (the UK) he quickly adapted to the environment. He doesn’t get to see many people he used to back home, it’s a big change for him.  

“We make it as enjoyable as possible and talk to him, he understands we wanted to come here to have a better life, but we'll go back home at some point.” 

Cholhok couldn’t have moved to the UK without the support of her family and friends and it’s her support network who encouraged her to make the leap into SSN. 

"My friends and family encourage me that I've made the best decision and should not judge myself if anything goes wrong,” she said. 

Cholhok hopes her story will help inspire others to chase their dreams.  

"As a refugee I lost my dad at six and I stepped into a role of trying to lead my family to help my mother. From that I developed maturely and quickly because of what was happening around me,” she said. 

Cholhok started playing sport as a way to take her mind off everything she was going through at home. 

“When I first played, and we got our first win I loved the feeling of achieving something and didn’t want it to stop,” she said. 

“Sport helped me focus and grow to dream because I didn't feel I had any dreams to chase because we lost everything, we didn't have a home. 

“Everything happened for a reason and it's never too dark to see the light, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel.” 

Cholhok herself takes inspiration from her former teammate Loughborough Lightning captain Natalie Panagarry. 

In 2022 Panagarry’s partner was diagnosed with cancer and seeing Panagarry continue to perform while going through something difficult off the court motivates Cholhok to turn up ready to play no matter the challenges she faces. 

“I was so proud of Nat for having to lead the team and winning back-to-back titles. 

"At training she's a whole different person but when she goes home, she has to deal with what is happening there, but she pushes it aside for netball. 

“It really made me feel how resilient people can be and motivated me that nothing should hold me back, especially on court.”