Pretoria strongly represented in Proteas World Cup netball team
The impact of netball in Pretoria is proven once again by the fact that some of the biggest stars in the Proteas' team selected for the upcoming World Cup tournament in Cape Town learned their netball in the Jacaranda City.
Netball South Africa last week released a final list of twelve players who are part of the SPAR Proteas netball team which will participate from July 28 in the Netball World Cup in Cape Town. The team also has three reserves.
Before the fifteen players were announced, SPAR Proteas Head Coach Norma Plummer had been with the team for a four-week training camp.
“As a federation, we have given Coach Norma and management team all the support they needed in preparing the best team for the World Cup. This will be for the first time in sixty years that a Netball World Cup is hosted on African soil, therefore our expectation for podium finish as hosts is a fair one. From Netball South Africa, we are pleased with the selected players, and we know for sure that they will do well. We are throwing all the much-needed support to the team, and we have full confidence in that and what they can deliver for us,” said Cecilia Molokwane, Netball South Africa President.
The players selected to don the green and gold for South Africa during the 2023 Netball World Cup and represent the country are:
Bongiwe Msomi (capt); Karla Pretorius (VC); Khanyisa Chawane; Izette Griesel; Phumza Maweni; Lenize Potgieter; Nicola Smith; Jeante Strydom; Nichole Taljaard; Elmere van der Berg; Shadine van der Merwe, Ine-Mari Venter.
Reserves: Owethu Ngubane; Refiloe Nketsa and Lefebre Rademan
Photo: Skhu Nkhompela
Five of these players have a connection with Pretoria and basically learned to play the game in the capital. They are the vice-captain, Karla Pretorius (former learner of Hoërskool Zwartkop in Centurion); Izette Griesel (former Tuks player and captain of the Jaguars netball franchise); Lenize Potgieter (Jaguars franchise, Tuks and Hoërskool Menlopark); Shadine van der Merwe (Jaguars franchise, Tuks and Hoërskool Akasia) and Ine-Mari Venter (Jaguars and Tuks).
Most of these players have moved on in recent seasons and they are playing professional Netball in England, Australia or New Zealand these days.
The Proteas team will meet again this coming weekend on 14 July in Cape Town for final training camp before the Netball World Cup.
The 2023 Netball World starts on the 28th of July till 6th August 2023 and will be played at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), and all matches will be broadcast on both free to air SABC and pay TV channel SuperSport.
Tickets available on https://nwc2023.org.za/tickets/buy-your-tickets-here/
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