Four players from Hillfox Action Arena selected to play for South Africa’s U23s at upcoming Indoor Super World Cup

A shared vision on the court has culminated in a collective dream on the horizon.

Hillfox Action Arena, have had several players chosen to represent South Africa at the upcoming Indoor Super World Cup. Set to be hosted in Australia in August, their selection presents a rare opportunity for young athletes to live their dreams while showing off the excellence of the arena.

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Tatijana Kozul, Christine Facius and Kiara Coppen have all been selected to represent the U23 indoor national team. The three from in and around Roodepoort will be joined by Kayhla Dalgleish who travels to the arena from Centurion. This will be Kiara’s third international tournament while Christine will be donning her national colours at a World Cup for the second time. Tatijana is eyeing the chance of taking the court on the biggest indoor stage for the first time.

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Travelling to Brisbane is self-funded forcing the women, who are all students working part-time jobs, to get creative in raising the required R65 000 each. They will be hosting a golf day in June at Eagle Canyon while from April they will be holding coaching clinics on Saturdays at Hillfox.
“Our netball clinics will be full of high-quality training. We have so much experience and I have personally been coached by former Protea coach Dorrette Bardenhorst as well as Proteas’s captain Bongi Msomi so I have learnt so much. I would love to encourage players to come and learn what we have to offer,” said Christine.

Still a long way from their target, the ladies are bursting to be granted something they have sacrificed their youth for.

“It has always been a dream for me to represent South Africa while playing the sport that I love. After years of hard work and dedication it would be an incredible opportunity,” said Tatijana. Kiara’s two previous World Cups were on home soil so the chance to play in Australia would be a dream come true.

“I have worked super hard throughout my netball career and for it to have finally arrived is truly amazing and one to never forget,” she said.

The oldest of three, Kiara, notes the hazards of failing to promote elite athletes.

“For me, not having the best in the country participate shows we are not competitive enough as an indoor sport. Funding makes it very difficult for players and coaches to want to represent their country. This is the reason we lose our best players and coaches as they don’t have the funding to showcase the talent our country has,” she said, relaying a sentiment shared by her teammates.

Their immediate focus is on the coaching clinics, a platform for them to prove their value. “Players and parents can expect passionate and dedicated individuals who have worked hard to achieve their dreams. We want to share our skills and knowledge to help them play to the best of their abilities and hopefully achieve their dreams one day. We would be so grateful to raise the funds so that we can continue to follow our dream not to only compete but show our patriotism for our country,” Tatijana said.

The clinics will be held on Saturday afternoon with an hour and a half slots beginning at 14:00. The clinic will focus on players aged five to 18 and slots can be booked with Annelize on 074 728 3627.

Appealing to the sporting hearts of the public, Christine concluded, “They would not only be supporting our dreams but showing other players that dreams really can come true. From someone that has been beaten down every step of the way, I still came out on top and I want to teach young girls to never give up on their dreams. Anything is possible if we help each other and support each other’s dreams.”