Van Dyk is hopeful that inexperience will not dampen Tuks’ Varsity Netball onslaught
Tuks brave this year's Varsity Netball tournament with their most inexperienced team ever involved in this prestigious tournament.
The Tuks netball team hopes to get going when the going gets tough during the Varsity Netball Tournament, which officially started last week.
Unfortunately, it is not going to be easy.
If there is one phrase the Tuks head coach, Jenny van Dyk, hates to use, it is that her team is in a rebuilding phase. Unfortunately, for now, it is what it is. Only three of the team’s players have Varsity Tournament experience.
“The one on escapable reality in sport is that in the end, to win it all boils down to experience. You are on the back foot if you don’t have it. At the start of the year, we knew we would face an uphill battle,” she explained during an interview on the eve of the tournament.
Still, she is confident that the team can give a good account of themselves. The players have put in a lot of hard work in the build-up to the tournament. They will make up what they might lack in experience with passion and guts.
“Our goal will be to try and play at a high intensity in every game. If the players do, there is a chance that Tuks can qualify for the semi-finals. But it is not going to be easy. We will have to come up with two ‘big’ victories,” said Van Dyk.
The highly regarded coach views UJ as the team to beat as they got a star-studded line-up. According to her, maties and Kovsies are the other two title contenders. In a way, Van Dyk is excited to be coaching the underdogs.
“I got to a stage as a coach where I was in a comfort zone, taking things for granted. When Tuks or any other team I coached won, it did not excite me as much as it would in the past.
She now admits that it is not a good situation to be in.
“I needed a reality check. Luckily it has happened this year. I now again realise the importance of thinking outside the box and being innovative. I am starting from scratch to find ways to improve things, which is exciting. It has rekindled my passion for coaching to get teams to win. I consider this one of my career’s most critical phases,” Van Dyk concluded.
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