The power balance in South African netball has now firmly shifted to the North West Province. Particularly, to the North-West University’s Potchefstroom Campus.

This was  evident at the SPAR National Netball Championships,  where North West took gold in all four sections at the Ugu Sports Centre near Margate on Saturday 29 August.

While most attention was focused on the A-section final, North West showed tremendous depth as they walked away with the A and B sections in both the senior and u.21 competitions.

In the senior A-section final, North West turned the tables on Gauteng, who won the 2014 title, by beating them 28-14 in a runaway victory. Their defence was outstanding, with Gauteng struggling to keep and make the most of their possession.

By halftime, Gauteng was trailing by 10 goals and they were never able to make up the deficit. They scored just four goals in the first and final quarters, and three in the second and third.“It was a great game and I think my players were excellent,” said North West coach, Dorette Badenhorst.

“We set out goals for each quarter, and they met those goals.”North West was unbeaten throughout the tournament and was always the standout team. Badenhorst also said this was the result of hard work, both on and off the field, and excellent team spirit.

Gauteng coach, Jenny van Dyk, was visibly disappointed at her team’s performance.

“These were not the same players who played so well in the semi-final yesterday,” she said.“We were excellent on defence, but we were very poor on attack, so we’ve got a lot of hard work to do. But I’m still very proud of them for reaching the final.”

North West beat Royal Bafokeng 30-27 in the B-section final, Gauteng 28-24 in the u.21 A-section and Royal Bafokeng 44-18 in the u.21 B-section.

“We have a lot of depth and it looks good for the future,” said Badenhorst.

“I think our success in all four sections was the result of selecting the right players for the right teams,” she added