If she’s not fighting and containing fires in her day job, she’s bringing the heat to goalkeepers on the football pitch as she is also potent in front of the goalpost.
For how long former Banyana Banyana striker Astria Boks will be juggling two of her biggest passions in life, only time will tell.
“People’s been asking me if I’m still planning to go back and work as a firefighter. Only time will tell as I need to complete my current studies,” Boks told No Bones with Jones.
Alas! This firefighter by day and a former pro now turned coach has one mission on her return to South Africa following various coaching stints in Asia – to give back to her Cape Town community where she has made a name for herself as a striker with an eye for goals.
But it was definitely not all sunshine and roses as, like many female footballers who want to carve out a career in footy the Belhar-born Boks had to box smartly and overcome many setbacks along the way.
“I had an opportunity also to attend an event in Malaysia where I shared my story on how to bounce back from setbacks I experienced in my life and how to overcome them and I was very grateful for that opportunity.
Boks, who is currently still making waves on the pitch for Stellenbosch FC Ladies and is their top scorer, stressed that she is fully committed in giving back to the young girls that she even declined a pro contract from TS Galaxy Ladies to assist coach Danian Wareley at Norway Parks Ladies.
“When I came back from abroad I declined a contract from TS Galaxy because there’s no pro team in Hollywood Bets…which mean there’s no pro contract” the former Vasco Ladies top-goal poacher added. Boks will launch her first coaching clinic event to be held at the Hellenic FC base in Tygerhof, Milnerton on 29 September.
This is all done at her own expense to ensure that the attendees get a full-on holistic perspective of what is required to make it as a pro player. Let’s face it, not everyone is going to make it as that is the cutthroat nature of football,” Boks further added.
“I want to create an environment where the ladies have access even if it is just for three or four hours, the proper way of doing things,” Boks said. “They’ll be exposed to professional physio’s as well as a nutritionist/food phycologist and just to emphasize how important it is to be holistically ready and prepared, you know.
“Not just the physical attributes or being a skilful player, no! Educate them about why it is important to get education while you are still an athlete. We’ll cover a little bit on why nutrition is important when it comes to being a footballer. I don’t think a lot of ladies’ clubs focus on the importance of nutrition, biokinetics, and physio.
“So, if it is even just for that day I am trying to create that for them as to what it is to be a high-performance athlete and a holistic one. So, you want to cover the psychology aspect as well. This is where I had to be mentally strong and pick myself up again when challenges arose in my career. No one was there to assist me with the overall package of being a top athlete.
“I had minimal assistance from supportive friends and family” …but most things I’ve done for myself. I lost both my parents, my mom died in 2018 and my dad in 2022, so I also had to process a lot of things. I know what it’s like to face adversity… therefore I want to assist future athletes and players to educate themselves in order to make better and informed decisions – on and off the field,” Boks concluded.
