Season three of Varsity Netball kicks off this spring and it’s going to be colourful! Eight universities are set to battle it out for the top prize in university netball, that of Varsity Netball Champions. Participating teams this year include Kovsies, UCT, UP-TUKS, Maties, NMMU, VUT, Pukke and UJ with all the action starting on S unday, 6 September.

Pukke will be confident this year after achieving success in the SPAR National Championships this past weekend. Most of the North West team will be part of the Pukke set-up as well.

According to Pukke coach, Dorette Badenhorst, her team is ready for the upcoming challenge.

“Our team has performed well of late and will be hoping to peak at the right time. We are looking forward to the challenge,” she added.

Pukke will play their first match this Sunday against Kovsies and Monday against UJ. Both these matches will be played at the Callie Human Hall in Bloemfontein.

NWU Pukke will play their first home match against Maties at the SANDF Kopanelo Hall in Potchefstroom on 14 September.

Part of this year’s tournament is an exciting new social media campaign aimed at making the match day experience more fun and entertaining. The #ShowYourColours initiative is an invitation for all varsity sport fanatics to get behind their teams, dress in their local university’s colours and win big on match day.

The campaign is the culmination of a national roadshow to each of the participating universities where representatives from each team bought into the concept whilst showing their colours through magnificent interpretations of the theme with the use of body paint, nail art and accessories.

“We’ve added another exciting layer to the Varsity Netball matchday experience,” says Duitser Bosman, CEO of Varsity Sports. “Apart from the world-class netball action expected on court, fans will have the opportunity to show their pride and support for their local team.”

The best interpretation will be awarded weekly and anyone can enter by using the campaign hashtags #ShowYourColours and #VSNetball and tagging @VarsitySportsSA. Winners will be selected by the Varsity Sports team and announced on Friday each week.

Netball’s rapid rise to one of the most popular sports in the country is no surprise with over two million female participants with a growing support base. The widely received broadcast of Varsity Netball through broadcast partner SuperSport is tantamount to the success of profiling the sport’s future stars as well as the sport itself.

With a number of current and past Varsity Netball players having been selected for the national squad representing South Africa at the 2015 Netball World Cup bears testament to the necessity of grassroots development.

“We’re extremely proud of what we’ve achieved and what our players have gone on to achieve,” adds Bosman. “Varsity Sports strives to bridge the gap between high school and university sport, and netball is just another one of the sporting codes that needs some attention. It has one of the biggest dropoff rates in participation from high school, and we hope by showing young women that there are career opportunities in netball after school, we can encourage even more women and young girls to take up the sport.”

This season will unearth new stars, bring new thrills and encourage fans to be a key part of the experience.