WATCH: Magic captain and Silver Fern of 2021 Sam Winders talks about her journey through netball - including the importance of faith and life outside the game - in the latest in the Pure As series.
She’s been the face of the Magic for the last three seasons, the captain fronting up to post-match interviews – usually after another loss - with an honest reflection and her trademark laugh.
Sam Winders has never let the rollercoaster nature of netball get to her, making sure she has a healthy balance between the game she loves and her personal life, which she talks about openly in Netball New Zealand’s Pure As series.
Winders might be one of the most loyal netballers in the New Zealand game. Now in her ninth straight season with the Magic, her journey began well before she made the side - starting as a ball girl on the sidelines at the Rotorua home games (joking she’s never seen a better ball girl).
Since she took up a Magic contract straight out of high school, the hard-working, dynamic middie has never considered playing for another ANZ Premiership side.
Despite comparisons to her childhood role model, Silver Ferns legend Laura Langman, the 26-year-old Winders says she’s never felt pressure to follow anything but her own path.
She speaks of not being chosen for the victorious 2019 Netball World Cup team, captained by Langman, and refocusing on her own game. “I never thought my days were done after that. I just felt like I had so much more to give so it never occurred to me that I should think about something else.”
In 2021, she was part of the Silver Ferns team to win the Constellation Cup for the first time since 2012, and her performances led to being named Ferns’ player of the year.
Making her mark on the game as Sam Sinclair, she married Josef Winders in the Catholic church in 2019, and talks about opening up to her netball family about her faith and its importance in her life.
“My faith is always going to be there…it’s something that’s really important to me and if it’s really important to me, then why shouldn’t I share it?”
Netball NZ’s highly successful Pure As series returns in 2022, shining a light on the lives of several Silver Ferns both on and off the court.
In two seasons so far, Pure As has gained a global reach of over 5 million and more than 3 million organic video views.
All episodes will be launched with an exclusive first watch through www.silverfans.co.nz, and shown on LockerRoom each week. You can watch the first episode, Sulu Fitzpatrick, here.
