At the back of the SPAR Baby Proteas’ thunderous entry into the 2025 Netball World Youth Cup campaign taking place in Gibraltar from 19 to 28 September, Netball South Africa’s (NSA) Acting President, Mami Diale, has called on all South Africans to rally behind the team.
In their opening match on Saturday, 20 September 2025, the SPAR Baby Proteas registered their authority on the scoreboard with an emphatic 102 – 27 drumming of Barbados.
“The rise of the SPAR Baby Proteas to this global spectacle is a culmination of the hard work undertaken by NSA to grow the game from the grassroots to national and globalised levels,” said Acting President, Mami Diale.
Diale notes that the unfaltering pedigree of netball underpins NSA’s mandate and strategic focus to reverse the imbalances of the past and position the sport as a merit-full, professionalised, performance-driven and representative sport. The crop of the SPAR Baby Proteas participating in the Netball World Youth Cup is a proud product of this vision.
The exciting calendar of the SPAR Proteas’ encounters with New Zealand in September and Australia in October, respectively, attests to a transcontinental footprint that netball has garnered, alongside development and capacity development imperatives that are currently underway.
“Netball South Africa has a strong administrative, management and governance structure that is committed to delivering on the organisation’s mandate. At Council level, we encourage robust discussions that are aimed at positioning netball as the sport of choice in South Africa and a shining beacon of governance excellence.
While we respect dissenting opinions amongst us, we take a dim view of these being canvassed in the public domain in vain attempts to project a dismal depiction of the organisation. Our favourable temperament is skewed towards vigorous debates that are intended to advance the fortunes of netball to groundbreaking levels. We are proud of NSA’s governance track record and equally jealous of our pristine image. We have competent instruments in place to manage any circumstance that might manifest.
Much as we hold the sovereignty and independence of the media as a watchdog, educator, and platform for public discourse in the highest regard, it becomes unfortunate when this august fourth estate is (ab)used as an arbiter in intra-organisational conversations. Thus, it would be infantile, if not delinquent, for NSA, or any mature organisation, to conduct its affairs through the media,” continued Diale.
The Acting President thanked the public and the media for their support of netball, which is attributable to its growing popularity. She recapitulated NSA’s commitment to transparency, accountability and openness, tenets that underpin her leadership. She called on some media houses to resist the temptation of holding court with “nameless individuals who are bent on tarnishing the exceptional emblem of the organisation and parading such misrepresentation in their reportage as the truth.”
As Diale cautions, “Lies don’t march in like an army. They slip in like embers: small, quiet, harmless – or so it might seem. A whisper in the dark, a crooked word here, a distorted narrative there. People who peddle mistruths convince themselves they can hold the ember in their hand, set it down where they choose, decide its size, its reach, its heat. But fire can’t be tamed. Fire obeys no master. Once it sparks, it doesn’t ask permission. It spreads, consuming the very hand that dares to believe it could be controlled.
Those who spread falsehoods misunderstand the weight of truth. They think truth can be buried, shoved under layers of rumour, silence beneath misinformation. But truth has a nature of its own. It sinks deep like an anchor. It holds steady. It waits. And when its time comes, it rises with force greater than any crafted deception.”
Turning to sponsors, partners and stakeholders, Diale said, “I thank our sponsors, partners and stakeholders, singularly and collectively, for their unwavering countenance. NSA takes this unprecedented anchorage seriously as a vote of confidence in netball. It aligns with our enshrined commitment to grow the sport to newfangled levels, anchored on sound governance and accountability systems that are firmly in place. Through this backing, the serendipities of this glorious organisation are on solid ground, geared for the total consumption of netball as a distinct sensation.
I especially thank SPAR for its sustained fulcrum over the years, particularly as the headline sponsor of the SPAR Baby Proteas in their Netball World Youth Cup championship quest.”
“From humble beginnings, the SPAR Baby Proteas have garnered ounces of grit, zest, hunger and determination to bring the coveted Netball World Youth Cup to South Africa, where it belongs. They are out in Gibraltar, flying the country’s flag high, representing the hopes and dreams of the country as well as cementing the prestige of a transformed, active, and winning netball nation! I therefore compassionately reiterate my call to all South Africans to be the aegis of this noble endeavour and corral behind the team,” she concluded.
