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Women’s sports is on the rise and South Africa’s sportswomen are beginning to make their presence known internationally.
Banyana Banyana have qualified for the World Cup in France later this year and the women’s national cricket team have been punching above their weight on the global stage.
But one of the biggest success stories has been that of the Spar Proteas netball team, which covered themselves in glory at the recent Quad Series tournament in England.
They beat the Commonwealth Games champions, the England Roses, 48-45 and then went on to force the world number two side, the New Zealand Silver Ferns, into extra time. They lost by two goals when the match went into sudden death, after the two teams were level on 56-56 after extra time.
It was South Africa’s best result against New Zealand since 1995, when they reached the final of the netball World Cup in Birmingham.
Netball South Africa took a bold step last year when it decided to submit a bid to host the 2023 netball World Cup in Cape Town with the support of Sascoc, the sport and recreation department, the Western Cape government, the Cape Town metropolitan council and all their current sponsors.
South Africa has emerged as one of two contenders and will be up against New Zealand when the final decision is made in the next few weeks.
“I don’t say ‘if’ we win the bid, I say ‘when’ we win the bid,” Netball South Africa president Cecilia Molokwane said at a media briefing in Sandton this week.
“It is Africa’s time. The netball World Cup has never been held in Africa, whereas New Zealand have hosted it three times already. Awarding the cup to South Africa would be in line with the International Netball Federation’s 2020 strategic plan to grow netball globally,” she said.
“South Africa is already supporting the growth of netball in Africa, by assisting with the development of coaches and umpires. One of the legacies of hosting the cup would be an exciting African netball league.”
If South Africa wins the bid, it will be only the second country after England to successfully host the Fifa World Cup, the cricket World Cup and the rugby World Cup.
But while Netball South Africa is upbeat about the possibility of hosting the cup in 2023, it has been dealt a massive blow. It was informed late last year that SAB would no longer sponsor the Brutal Fruit netball premier league.
The league played a huge role in developing the game by giving the country’s top players the opportunity to play high-pressure netball on a regular process.
A number of the current stars, like Phumza Maweni and Lenize Potgieter, were first talent-spotted while playing in the league. Twelve other South African players have been recruited to play in the world’s top netball leagues in Australia, New Zealand and England.
“We will still have a league,” said Molokwane.
“We have plans B, C and D. We have approached a number of potential sponsors and we are confident that one of them will come to the party. We have to have a national league and we will have a national league. We expect to announce a new sponsor very soon.”
Netball has plenty going for it to attract sponsors. It has the second most participants in a team sport in South Africa, and the highest participation rate among women.
It is the most popular women’s sport and has the fourth-highest media coverage after soccer, rugby and cricket worldwide. – BLD Communications
