Netball World Cup: Georgia Rowe, the goal shooter who learned to love her height
“I really disliked being six foot five and now I just walk around and I don’t even realise I’m this tall.”
Georgia Rowe cuts a towering figure on the netball court.
With the exception of Uganda’s Mary Cholhok – who stands at 6ft 7in (2.01m) – there are no others taller than the Welsh 195cm goal shooter.
While the 31-year-old’s stature is seemingly ideal for the position she plays, she wasn’t always comfortable in her own skin.
After initially denying the requests from friends and PE teachers to get her to join the school team, it was a call from her father to Welsh Netball before her 18th birthday that finally got her started.
14 years on and more than 80 caps later, Rowe is attempting to qualify for her third Netball World Cup.
“People are amazed how late I started in the sport,” she told BBC Sport Wales.
“My parents pushed me and I’m really thankful for that.
“I don’t know what I would be doing, I’d still be sat in front of the TV probably hiding away and walking around with my friends feeling like I was the odd one out.”
Rowe recalled the nerves she experienced in the beginning.
“I can remember when I first started playing, being so nervous driving myself to a training session, knowing that I’m going to be put through pain and be put in uncomfortable situations,” she added.
“I’ve learned to deal with that but I still have the nerves and the butterflies.
“It’s not an easy challenge, no matter how many years that you’ve been doing it.
“I think you just learn to adapt and take a look inside yourself and build up your strengths and I still love it just as much as I did 13 years ago.”
The Newport native is grateful for the opportunities the sport has afforded her.
“Netball has obviously taken me to some amazing places,” Rowe pointed out.
“Now I’m surrounded by tall women and I do love it, I’m so thankful for it.”
Rowe became the 201st Welsh netball international, making her debut in May 2015 against England, two years after her netball career began.
“Sometimes I wish that I’d started a little bit sooner but I think it came to me at the perfect time.
“It’s changed me I’m never going to be ashamed to be this tall again.”
