Netball South Africa clears confusion on the TNL teams
06 June 2020, Pretoria – Netball South Africa has noted the news that have been spread and circulating on social media and other media platforms regarding the teams participating in the Telkom Netball League. It is very unfortunate that, what was meant to be an internal communication to our members has become a public matter, we would have preferred for those who had grievances to raise it following the right processes and structures.
As a federation we pride ourselves in transparency and fair practices. Because the matter is now in a public platform, we are more than happy to set the record straight on this matter and hopefully put it to bed.
The Telkom Netball League (TNL) has historically been played by ten teams provincial teams representing the country’s nine provinces with Gauteng having two teams, however for the 2020 edition, Netball South Africa have decided to include two additional teams who are from the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal respectively, meaning that from now we will have 12 teams in the TNL.
TNL comprise of provincial players/team management from district structures. All the provinces are expected to hold trials on a yearly basis with the aim and view of strengthening their teams. Upon the conclusion of trials, the teams submit their provisional squads to Netball South Africa for vetting. This approval process includes checking if players selected are registered members of their districts, they are actively involved in their league structures and to also check if the teams reflect the demographics of their provinces. We also indicated that a provincial team should reflect 70% of players/administrators who reside from their current province.
To date, all 12 teams have submitted their provisional squads to Netball South Africa for vetting and only nine teams have been approved because they meet the criteria that was prescribed. The three that are left out yet, include Gauteng Jaguars, Free State Crinums and North West Flames. Some of the reasons why they were not yet approved including the fact that they do not represent the demographics of their provinces and not inclusive. Netball South Africa has different platforms of participation i.e. Provincial Championships ,National Championships ,Provincial League and International Events, therefore there is a clear prescription of eligibility
The three respective teams have received communication from Netball South Africa advising them on this matter and have been asked to submit their reports on how their teams were chosen and to submit their development. The federation is awaiting correspondence from the teams on this matter.
The manner in which the story has been reported suggests that the teams have not been approved to participate in the TNL which is not true, the three provincial teams will participate in the tournament, they just need to comply with the processes set out for all the teams.
ENDS
For media queries:
Nnusi Gazi
Netball South Africa Communications Manger
+27 79 840 1880
