SPAR Proteas eye Jamaican victory
SA has played Jamaica 18 times and won only three matches.
Netball’s SPAR Proteas, who finished 2024 as the number one ranked team in Africa, will start the new year with an exciting challenge when they travel to the Caribbean to take on Jamaica in the three-test Margaret Beckford Sunshine Series in Kingston between January 18 to 25.
After beating England in a test series, the in-form Jamaica moved into the third spot on the world rankings, behind Australia and New Zealand.
The SPAR Proteas and the Sunshine Girls have played each other 18 times, with the SPAR Proteas winning three times – most notably in the Netball World Cup in Liverpool in 2019, where SA won 55-52, earning them a spot in the semi-finals.
“It’s my biggest challenge since taking over as coach,” said national coach Jenny van Dyk.
“It’s always tough playing in the Caribbean, but I went to the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago in 2023, so I am used to that kind of atmosphere. The humidity might also be a problem. Our strategy will be to close the gap in the scoreline and then go in hard, looking for the win.”
Van Dyk said the star goal defence, Karla Pretorius, was being rested for the tour and would be replaced by rising star San-Marie Visser.
“Karla has a young child, and we will be going to the UK after Jamaica, and that’s a long time to be away from your child,” said Van Dyk.
“I am very excited about San-Marie, and we need to start building for the future.”
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Assistant coach Zanele Mdodana, who was a team member when they last played in Jamaica, is well aware of the challenges involved in playing Jamaica at home.
“It’s tough to play Jamaica at home. They fill those arenas to capacity, they’ve got the dance, the song… Those spectators come out in full support of their team. But we made history when we went there under coach Elize Kotze and beat them.
“They’ve got a very vibrant team, dynamic and athletic. Most of their players play in Australia so they have great international experience. But we want to be the best, so we must play the best,” said Mdodana.
From Jamaica, the SPAR Proteas will travel to the UK to play in next month’s Vitality Netball Nations Cup. The other participating teams are England, Uganda and Malawi.
“We have big ambitions for the Nations Cup,” said Van Dyk.
“We want to force England to take us seriously and play their best players against us. The gap between England, New Zealand and Jamaica is very narrow, and we want to show that we belong up there with them.”
The national U21 team, the SPAR Baby Proteas, will travel with the senior side to Jamaica to play a friendly series against the Jamaican national U21 team. This series forms part of their build-up preparation for the Netball World Youth Cup in Gibraltar in September.
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