Pretoria, South Africa – Following the appointment of Dorette Badenhorst and Dumisani Chauke as both Head Coach and Assistant Coach of the SPAR Proteas, the duo’s first assignment is competing at the 2019 Africa Netball Cup that will be staged at the Velodrome in Cape Town from the 18th till 22nd October 2019.
Africa Netball Cup is the first tournament that the Proteas will be participating in following their impressive showing at the 2019 Netball World Cup where they finished fourth and it will be a good test for the newly appointed coaching staff who will use this as a preparation for the series against England in November.
The tournament (Africa Netball Cup) sees eight African teams square off against each other. The countries that are participating include Uganda, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Lesotho, Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi.
Dorette Badenhorst, SPAR Proteas Coach said “It is never easy playing any of the African countries. All the four teams that competed at the 2019 Netball World Cup did very well, they finished in the top 10. I will never underestimate, they are very physical and never easy to play against because of their heights. We will prepare very well against them and make sure that we are better prepared especially against Malawi on Friday and the other opponents. The goal is to win this tournament and remain the best ranked team in the continent.”
The team will gather in Cape Town as they prepare and get ready for the tournament. The 12 selected players for the 2019 Africa Netball Cup are:
- Bongiwe Msomi – Captain
- Sigrid Burger
- Khanyisa Chawane
- Romé Dreyer
- Precious Mthembu
- Izette Griesel
- Lenize Potgieter
- Lefébre Rademan
- Monique Reynecke
- Renske Stoltz
- Zanele Vimbela
- Shadine van der Merwe
“As the Executive Committee we are very pleased with the team that the coach has assembled, we believe that these are some of the best players that can do the work for us and make the nation proud. What is important is ensuring that we start building and working on a team that will compete at the end of the year against the Roses and the Quad Series. We think that this team will give us enough to work with. I’d like to wish the team all the best for the tournament, no pressure at all. Go have fun, enjoy yourselves and bring us the medal, said Cecilia Molokwane, Netball South Africa President.
