Silver Ferns defender Catherine Hall greets fans after victory over South Africa in September. Photo / Photosport
Not many people successfully attend medical school in New Zealand. There’s good money that only one person is doing it while playing professional netball.
That individual is Northern Mystics and Silver Ferns defender Catherine Hall, and while coming off an excellent Constellation Cup series in October, she said a professional career in the sport she loves wasn’t really on the cards in the beginning.
“To be honest, coming out of high school I decided I wanted to be a doctor, so I was quite focused on doing that first year of biomed. You’ve got to study pretty hard to get into med school,” Hall said.
However, an invitation from the Marvels (the Netball National League feeder team below the Northern Mystics) asking her to come to a trial changed everything.
“I was sort of umming and ahhing because I knew that was quite a big-time commitment and I wanted to put my focus into getting into med school,” the five-test Silver Fern said.
“I ended up going to the trials, and I’m glad I did because if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be here where I am now.”
Even after being put on the radar, Hall said she still “wasn’t determined to be a professional netballer”, rather focusing on gaining entrance to med school.
“I just wanted to enjoy my netball and see how far I could go, and then the opportunities came … it all just happened really.”
The opportunities certainly did come, and with them a workload that would send many into shock.
In 2024, Hall had her first year on a full-time contract with the Mystics while also entering her third year of med school, creating what turned out to be a “very busy year”.
Her schedule can vary depending on her contrasting vocations. A big training day from 9am-3pm would be followed by lectures in the afternoon, whereas an afternoon-only training would allow her to go to laboratory classes and crank out some coursework in the morning. Weekends would be employed for study as well, along with preparing and playing netball.
In true Kiwi fashion, Hall credited her supportive parents and the Mystics for helping her through those long days, especially with mum being a doctor.
“It’s good to talk things through with her and have her opinion on things,” she said. “I’ve had to miss a few trainings for exams and things like that ... If they [Mystics] weren’t understanding, I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did.”
Mystics head coach Tia Winikerei said it was always known to the team that Hall was going to pursue med school. She highlighted the importance the organisation places on supporting every player in all parts of their life, as well as employing an open-door policy if adjustments need to be made.
The third-year coach didn’t hesitate to point out how Hall’s “hardly missed” any training sessions in her entire time with the Mystics, speaking volumes to her character.
“Catherine’s incredibly driven. She’s really organised [and] she’s really diligent, so she plans her years of study with us … 100% proactive in what she’s doing,” she said.
Winikerei laughed as she recalled how Hall’s organisation and preparation trickles down to even the simplest of things, such as her star defender carrying muesli bars wherever she goes to keep the energy levels up.
“What I’m saying is she’s diligently prepared herself for every space that she needs to be in … her hard work is next level.”
It’d be easy to imagine how self-doubt could creep in, considering the pressures of professional sporting environments and med school, but Hall expressed a mindset fitting to a person with her work ethic.
“To be honest, I probably expected it to be worse. I never really felt like I was in over my head,” she said.
“I never really stopped and looked back and questioned what the right decision was – I was quite happy with it. When I wasn’t playing netball, I was doing uni, and when I wasn’t doing uni, I was playing netball. I didn’t have much time for much else, but I was really enjoying what I was doing.”
Mindset was a big talking point for the 21-year-old, as she had to adjust her own expectations of what academic success looked like.
“I was used to wanting to always get A-pluses and always get the top grades, but sort of being realistic and saying, ‘hey, you’re playing netball. You can do your best, but you don’t have to be top of the class’, sort of thing.”
Adds Winikerei: “I’ve always said to her, ‘we’ll make however we need [it], to work’.
“The team are really proud of Catherine for being able to pursue that [and] we are openly supportive of her commitments around that.”
The study certainly hasn’t hampered Hall’s ascension in the netball world. If anything, it’s amplified it.
The towering 1.91m tall defender was rewarded with a first-time selection into the Silver Ferns squad this year, debuting against South Africa. The call-up left her in disbelief, and as a result, she’s simply grateful to be involved in the environment.
“It’s something I didn’t expect to happen so soon. I’m just wanting to go on like a sponge and soak everything up ... I’ve already learned so much,” she said.
It came as no surprise to her regional coach, as Winikerei said Hall’s level of dedication to her craft supplements her natural talent and athleticism to a tee.
“She has a very quick uptake [and] she’s highly coachable,” she said.
“She’s curious enough to go, ‘I don’t quite get that’, but then she’ll give it a go and she’ll work it out very quickly … she’s got the potential to be a world-class athlete.”
As for her future with med school, Hall has deferred her fourth year of study, because the course requires placement hours she described as “pretty much like a full-time nine-to-five job”.
She’s now doing an honours degree, an optional segment of the medical degree which involves creating a part-time research project over the course of 2025 and 2026.
However, Hall is adamant she’ll return to full-time med school down the line.
“Ultimately, I want to be a doctor, and that’s a career that I can have for my whole life. You can’t play netball your whole life.”