Popular American investor and financial executive, Charles Schwab, once said, “a man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm.”
In this case, 17-year-old Vera John is on course to becoming the greatest handball player the country has ever seen as her passion and determination to succeed seem to know no bounds.
John was part of Nigeria’s U-18 girls team that picked up gold medals at the 13th African Games in Ghana earlier this year but despite the achievement, the young athlete, who hails from Delta State, said she was nowhere near her dream.
“It was a great moment winning a gold medal for Nigeria at the African Games and upon our arrival, I received a lot of calls from friends and families, some people equally came around to say hello but I am not living the dream yet,” she said.
“Maybe close to living the dream but that’s not the dream because the dream is to be at the World Cup and win another gold for the country.”
The gold medal won in Ghana was one of the many medals the talented handball player had won as she already boasts several laurels.
She won her first medal at 15 after helping Nigeria to a second-place finish at the U-15 championship in Ghana in 2018 before claiming her second national medal at the U-18 championship in Ivory Coast in 2021 when Nigeria won gold.
At club level, John claimed a silver medal while playing for the Bayelsa Queens U-15 team and won two gold medals with the senior team before recently joining Rivers Club.
For two consecutive seasons, the student of Niger Delta University won the Most Valuable Player and top scorer awards.
The Philosophy undergraduate seems to be toeing the line of Mahatma Gandhi, who once said, “Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory.”
At just 17, nothing seems to be stopping a young handball player from pursuing her dreams of becoming a handball player.
“In 2017 my brother introduced me to handball when I was 10 and I ended up liking it,” she said.
“We would sneak out of the house to go play without telling our parents because we don’t know what their reactions would be like. From just playing randomly, we started training and we had a coach, but our parents were not aware until 2018 when we were to go for a tour and the coach needed their permission.
“He came to our house to see them and told us to stay outside while he discussed with them, we were so nervous because we didn’t know what the outcome would be. But at the end of the day they agreed and that was how we started fully and ever since they have been supporting us.”
Combining education and sports hasn’t been the strongest part of many Nigerian athletes but the former student of Epie National High School, Bayelsa has everything working in her favour in attaining the heights she dreams of.
“The journey has been tough because handball is physically tough and demanding, the injuries can be severe,” she said.
“Combining training and going to school is another challenge but luckily for me the secondary school I attended was afternoon school. I would go training in the morning and attend classes in the afternoon but my University is a bit different. I haven’t missed any classes since I started and that’s because I don’t go to training whenever I have classes in the morning.”
Opuene Yekorogha, head coach of Bayelsa Queens, lauded the exceptional qualities of the youngster and her growth.
“I’ve known Vera right from when she was in primary school to secondary and now she is in the university,” he said.
“She is good when she wants to be good and she has a very good foot work, a quality that stood her out among others. She is a very talented player but more so she is very dedicated and doesn’t joke with training. She gives her 100 per cent as long as she is happy.”
He added, “The journey wasn’t that easy because I had to convince the parent to allow her to play handball. I go there every day pleading with her because the mother won’t even allow her to come out of the house. I was persistent and kept trying and even made a promise to watch over her and take care of her before the mother allowed her to play handball. Now she is enjoying it and I am very happy for her.”
While John is destined to soar high in her career, the youngster will hope to first guide Nigeria to a podium finish at the World Cup in China later this
year.
