Carol Garoes: A disciplinarian with a mother’s heart

A people’s person, a strict disciplinarian, but a caring coach who treated her players like her own daughters. That is how former Black Africa and national netball star Annie Kalomo describes Carol Garoes – her former coach at both club and national team level. Kalomo, who took over as Black Africa coach in 1997 after Garoes was forced to leave her role due to the travelling demands of her job at the gender ministry, holds her mentor in high regard. “Auntie Carol was a wonderful person and coach. She was very strict and believed in fitness, and secondly, she was a strong believer in discipline,” Kalomo says. “She was a slave-driver in a good way because her tough training made Black Africa probably the fittest netball team in the league. We never lost a match due to fitness issues. ” Kalomo says she applied Garoes’ rigorous training regime and strict discipline in her own coaching.

“The other outstanding thing about auntie Carol was her love for her players. She built a very special bond with her players, something similar to the bond between a mother and her daughter,” Kalomo says. “She was very protective of her players, and no one dared speak nonsense about them in her presence. You would have to deal with her personally, and one thing she despised was talking behind someone’s back. ” Carol Garoes served both the Namibia Women in Sport Association and the Africa Women in Sport Association as secretary general. The former centre points out that Garoes put a lot of emphasis on fitness, to such a point that some of the players started to complain. Kalomo says some of Garoes’ physical training impacted her immensely, so much that the organisers of the World Cup in England subjected her to a dope test – just because of her fitness level. Helen Oliphant, who also played…