A social cohesion tournament aimed at uniting both male and female netball players in the community continues to grow, with teams displaying unity and a positive competitive spirit.

The Bibs Up Netball Tournament hosted its latest event on February 7 in Thembisa, featuring matches for both men and women.

Teams participating in the tournament travel from as far as Lesotho and Swaziland, as well as various parts of South Africa. The competition includes a mix of university and community teams competing for top honours.

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The tournament currently hosts more than 30 teams.

While the top three teams in each gender category receive prize money, one of the event’s highlights is the presence of national and international scouts.

These executives may identify and award outstanding players with opportunities to play netball elsewhere while representing their community.

Established in 2022, the tournament has grown steadily and continues to unite the community while giving teams an opportunity to showcase their talent.

With the national netball season underway, organisers prefer to host their events during this period to maintain momentum and enthusiasm for the sport.

Olwethu Twala, PR and Marketing representative of Bibs Up, explained that teams are recruited through various campaigns and social media platforms.

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“We use different campaigns and social media to create a buzz around the tournament, allowing teams to join our initiative through applications shared across platforms.

“We also rely on our database of teams that have previously signed up, which makes it easier to notify them when we host events. Advertising also plays an important role,” said Twala.

“At this event, we had around 32 teams participating. We award prizes to the top three teams in each gender category, with the winning team receiving R10 000.”

Founder Lwazi Mbuli said the inspiration behind starting the tournament was to keep the netball spirit alive.

“When we established it, we started it as a social event and decided to grow it further to unite teams. Initially, it was run by Thembisa teams, and from there we expanded to Johannesburg and other areas, uniting teams and growing the tournament.

“What is unique is that each year surpasses the previous one. We are now able to host two tournaments annually, Bibs Up at the beginning of the year and Bibs Down at the end of the year, in line with the South African netball calendar,” said Mbuli.

Results
Male Category
• Rising Stars (Winners)
• Brothers
• Tactics
Female Category
• Unstoppable (Winners)
• Chasers
• JCNC
The top team received R15 555, the second-placed team R8 000, and the third-placed team R3 500.
Individual Awards
• Nozipho Ntshangase – Best Player in the Finals
• Thato Legodi – Tournament Best Female Player
• William Lethoko – Tournament Best Male Player
• Lethoko was also named the overall best player of the tournament.