Why change fuels Burger

By Stephanie Smarrelli 
 

At 32-years-old, defender Karin Burger has grown comfortable with being uncomfortable. 

The South Africa-born, Silver Fern is no stranger to a challenge, but when life gets tough, she turns to something she enjoys. 

Retail therapy. 

“I’m very big on retail therapy when I’ve had some down times,” Burger said. 

“I’ve cut back on it a bit recently, but I do love going to the shops. 

“I go through phases and I’m quite open-minded when I’m browsing.” 

When it comes to hitting the shops, there’s a category that’s her kryptonite. 

“I love jewellery,” she said. 

“I’m in my gold phase, which is expensive so I’m putting that on hold, but I also went through a massive shoe phase. 

“I love a good shoe, even with my height. 

“People always ask me why I buy heels, but they look good.”  

On a more serious note, the defender keeps her inner circle close when she needs them the most. 

Stepping into the role of interim New Zealand Silver Ferns captain last year, she’s learned how to handle the spotlight. 

“Having family who 100 per cent support me, tell me when I’ve played really well but also tell me when things didn't go well in the right way is really good,” she said. 

“Hearing those things from the people I trust helps me to stay positive and focussed on how to be better. 

"When things get a bit too much, I focus on one or two things and make sure I do those really well rather than getting distracted by everything else. 

“As a high-performance athlete, I want to be a perfectionist, but you can't be 100 per cent great at everything all the time.  

"Not letting things run away from you is a skill I've definitely had to work on.”  

Growing up in about three hours outside of Cape Town, challenges have never been in short supply on Burger’s path to elite netball. 

As she readies herself for Suncorp Super Netball, she reflected on the lifechanging decision to leave home and try her luck in New Zealand. 

"Growing up I always wanted to challenge myself and do something big,” she said. 

“I knew I had talent and enjoyed netball so that was an opportunity for me to utilise. 

“My mum's cousin lived in New Zealand and offered for me to stay with them for a gap year after school, as I was still figuring out what I wanted to do. 

“When that opportunity came, I grabbed it.” 

Like all good mothers, Burger’s mum went above and beyond to prepare her daughter for the big move, reaching out to a netball legend who had already lived the journey that lay ahead. 

“My mum knew people, who knew people, who knew people, who knew Leana de Bruin’s family,” Burger said. 

“We reached out to get an understanding of what we were getting ourselves into, she's been supportive of me throughout my career and to this day we still talk. 

“Her advice was not as motivational or inspiring as you would want before moving to a new country, but it was very realistic along the lines of ‘it's possible, but it's really hard and won’t be an easy ride.’ 

“At the time, I wasn’t sure if it was going to be possible after that, but I didn’t want her to sugarcoat things and she was honest.” 

While away from home, Burger’s had to go the extra mile to prioritise keeping in touch with those she’s closest with. 

"You really realise who your close friends are when you move and have to start staying in touch online,” she said. 

“The people I'm closest with are probably the ones I don't talk to often, but we have that relationship to know life gets busy and understand that from each other's perspective.  

“When we do get to spend some time together, we make the most out of it.” 

The defender confesses one of her biggest challenges is finding balance beyond the court. 

“You go through a rollercoaster,” she said. 

“Part of the struggle is having a life outside of netball. 

“When people are on holiday or enjoying their weekends, that's when we work. 

“Sometimes it’s hard for people around you to understand that lifestyle and the other side of that is the constant feeling of not being good enough so you’re always striving for better. 

"If you can find that balance, it's really good but if you don’t approach it positively, it can easily throw you over the edge.” 

With that in mind, there’s one piece of advice she would give her younger self. 

“Stay true to yourself but don't be closed off to change,” she said. 

"The person I was when I first moved to New Zealand is quite different to who I am now. 

“People always say to be true to yourself but from experience you do change over the years, but you shouldn’t be afraid of that.” 

Embracing change once again, Burger decided the time was right for another international move after 10 years in New Zealand split between the Tactix and Pulse. 

“I wanted to challenge myself more and I didn't feel moving to a different franchise [in New Zealand] was going to give me that challenge,” she said. 

"I want to be the inexperienced newbie to learn more and in the Australian competition I’ll be coming up against international talent from different countries.  

“I don't know how many more years I have ahead of me so I wanted to grab that opportunity while I still can. 

“On a personal level, I wanted to put myself in an uncomfortable position to develop new skills, learn a new lifestyle and experience a different country. 

“I’m fortunate to be able to say I'm going over to a new country for six months and can go back and have everything still the same.  

Joining the Sunshine Coast Lightning, Burger is eager to bring her game up a notch.  

“The style of play is a hybrid of what I'm used to in terms of space, working together and challenging in a one-on-one defence,” she said. 

“Lightning have four Diamonds in their group which is a lot of experience they can share as well. 

“So, I’m really excited about the style of play they have and the experiences I can learn from.” 

She's equally as excited to share her own knowledge with her new teammates. 

“I'm quite a chatty person,” she said. 

“As much as I like learning, I like sharing, it's always interesting to hear someone else's perspective about the game. 

“A big focus for Lightning is to ensure we play to everybody's strengths and look at what we need to adapt, teach or learn.  

“Over the years you start accumulating little traits people are good at or areas that aren't their favourite, I’m utilising those where I can give my input so hopefully, we play really well when we come up against those athletes in other teams.”  
 
While Burger plans to bring her experience to SSN, she acknowledged how the league will benefit her fellow Silver Ferns teammates and herself who have made the leap across the Tasman. 

“The Kiwi style is quite unique, but we don't necessarily come up against other styles to practice often,” she said. 

“So, for a lot of us being in SSN we get to experience different styles but also learn to develop our own skills in terms of what would work best against certain teams and certain players.  

“There's so many international players in this competition, the first-hand experience will help us in the Ferns environment, especially because there's so many of us who have come over, it's not just one or two players trying to share their knowledge. 

“That will help us in terms of scouting for the Commonwealth Games and the Netball World Cup.” 

The defender has her fingers crossed she’ll be on the plane to Glasgow later this year but not just for netball.  

“I love experiencing different cultures,” she said. 

“I’ve just been to Thailand over the holidays; fingers crossed the Commonwealth Games selections work out well as I’ll try to do a little bit of a Europe trip. 

“Outside of netball, I don't get many chances throughout the year to be able to travel and over the years whenever there's been an opportunity to stay in a country and go on holiday, I’ve opted to go home to South Africa to see my family. 

“So that’s put a roadblock on being able to go and sightsee in other countries but it’s high on my to-do list over the next couple of years."