The arrival of son Tevita and daughter Theresa on Boxing Day last year put young defender Sulu Tone-Fitzpatrick on a drastically different course to the one she had planned.
After working so hard to make her mark on the transtasman league with the Southern Steel following a poor season at the Magic, any hopes of a Silver Ferns recall had to be shelved. Instead, she quietly headed home to Auckland to prepare for impending motherhood.
And that's where many would expect the story of Tone-Fitzpatrick's netball career to end. But it's not. Next year Tone-Fitzpatrick will return to where the story began - the Northern Mystics.
The 1.88m defender first came to the attention of the netball world when she was picked up by the Auckland franchise as a 17-year-old school-girl. An imposing figure in the defensive circle, Tone-Fitzpatrick impressed in her few appearances for the side, with her timing, vision and knack for sniffing out an intercept her key strengths.
Not surprisingly when she finished up at St Cuthberts College, where she was deputy head girl, at the end of the year several other franchises were chasing her signature. The Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic won out, with the chance to play alongside Silver Ferns captain Casey Kopua a big drawcard for Tone-Fitzpatrick.
With more regular court time the youngster flourished in the Magic environment, improving her fitness, conditioning and versatility. She capped off her break-through year when she made her test debut against England on her home court of Waitakere's Trusts Stadium after defenders Kopua and Katrina Grant were ruled out of the end-of-year series to nurse long-standing injuries.
It was thought that appearance would be the first of many in the black dress for Tone-Fitzpatrick, but her form took a notable dip in 2012 after the arrival of Leana de Bruin at the Magic franchise consigned the rookie to a bench role. Her confidence and conditioning suffered and having rarely been sighted on court, Tone-Fitzpatrick failed to retain her place in the Silver Ferns squad.
It was time for a change, so when the Southern Steel came calling, Tone-Fitzpatrick leapt at the chance. The Steel presented the opportunity for Tone-Fitzpatrick to play a leading role in their defensive end.
With regular court time, the powerful 1.88m defender, who has been likened to former Silver Fern Linda Vagana, was beginning to make her mark again on the transtasman league.
And this is where her comeback story took an unexpected turn.
"It was just a huge shock - it was definitely not something that was expected," said Tone-Fitzpatrick on finding out she was pregnant, just weeks into the Steel's season.
She was living away from home for the first time, in a new city, new environment, new teammates and suddenly dealing with an unplanned pregnancy - the whole twins bombshell came later.
"I told my mum straight away so I had her support the whole way through but, yeah, it was pretty hard," said Tone-Fitzpatrick, who was 20 at the time.
The youngster also told Steel coach Janine Southby and team management very early on of her news, but her teammates remained in the dark. Carrying twins, Tone-Fitzpatrick played out the rest of the season, featuring in every game.
But the former under-21 captain was forced to rule herself out of the World Youth Cup team in August last year - a development which caused much confusion at the time. While her teammates were lifting the Cup following a dominant win over Australia in the final, Tone-Fitzpatrick was back in Auckland still getting her head around the fact she was about to become a mum of two.
Returning to top-level netball was always in the back of her mind. She hoped at some point she'd work her way back, but in the end, it all happened by accident.
After being convinced to turn out in a couple of club games for Mt Albert Grammar, she was asked to play for the Northern Netball zone at the national under-23 tournament in July.
"I didn't even think about coming back to [provincial] netball this year, it was just a kind of spur of the moment decision made after a club game," she said.
"I'm really glad that I did it as it's just nice to have something for myself. I love having babies and being a mum, but it is also good to have other challenges as well."
The bustling defender ended up being the talk of the tournament - few had expected her to return so soon and in such good shape.
She was soon figuring in discussions for an ANZ Championship contract, with both the Mystics and the Steel making a play to lure her back for the 2015 season. In the end, home won out.
"Being close to my family was a big drawcard, I didn't really want to be moving anywhere else with two babies," she said.
The way Tone-Fitzpatrick sees it, having children has made her world bigger, not smaller.
"I'm just loving being a mum - it's helped me grow up a bit and put life into perspective."
And that seems like a nice note to finish. Just know it isn't the end.
- by Dana Johannsen of the NZ Herald
