19 July 2022, Cardiff – The South African senior netball team, the SPAR Proteas who are currently getting ready to get into the Commonwealth Athlete Village are in Cardiff ahead of their two test match series against Wales.
Dorette Badenhorst charges were on a two-week training camp in Stellenbosch before jetting off to Bath last Tuesday and have been staying and training at the University of Bath since their arrival on the 13th of July.
The team also trained at the institution and managed to play a practice game with the University of Bath team. The SPAR Proteas travelled to Cardiff on Monday the 18th of July 2022 where they will be playing against Wales on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Both nations will be using these games as preparation for Commonwealth Games, and this is a ranking test match series. SPAR Proteas and Wales have met sixteen times and South Africa is yet to lose a match against Wales.
According to World Netball rankings, the SPAR Proteas are currently ranked fifth in the world and Wales are on their tail and ranked eighth. The last time both teams met was in 2019 when South Africa was getting ready for the 2019 Netball World Cup in Liverpool.
Dorette Badenhorst is currently traveling with fifteen players even though only 12 have been selected to be a part of Team South Africa that will compete at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
List of the travelling fifteen players are:
Bongiwe Msomi (c); Lenize Potgieter; Izette Griesel; Phumza Maweni; Shadine van der Merwe; Ine-Mari Venter; Zanele Vimbela; Khanyisa Chawane; Boitumelo Mahloko; Tshinakaho Mdau; Lefebre Rademan; Monique Reyneke; Nicola Smith; Nichole Taljaard, Elmere van der Berg
“It has been good for us to have all the players in camp with us in Stellenbosch, we had our international players back as well, so we were able to get together and train as a unit. We worked well with all the players both on and off court. I can safely say that preparations for Commonwealth games are going very well. The last time we were all together was in January during the Quad Series. The inclusion of Norma Plummer and Nicole Cusack is also great because Nicole is working closely with our shooters and Norma is mentoring the coaching panel,” said Dorette Badenhorst, SPAR Proteas Head Coach.
The below players are the twelves that are part of Team South Africa and will be competing at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Khanyisa Chawane, Izette Griesel, Phumza Maweni, Tshinakaho Mdau, Bongiwe Msomi, Lenize Potgieter, Lefebre Rademan, Nicola Smith, Elmere van der Berg, Shadine van der Merwe, Ine-Mari Venter, Zanele Vimbela
Badenhorst concluded by saying “Our preparations for the Wales test series are going very well and this is another chance for us to prepare for Commonwealth Games and get some game time ahead of this tournament. It has been especially important for us to get together after such a long time playing away from each other, compete together, settle combinations, and get the team ready.
The first match is on Tuesday 19th July 2022 at 20:00 (CAT) and the second game will be on Wednesday 20th July 2022 same time. The matches will be televised in the splendor of high definition on your world of champions Supersport Variety 4 in SA and Variety 2 Africa in the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa. The matches will also go out on Showmax Pro.
