SA netball star joins UK Super League team

SPAR Proteas vice-captain Bongiwe Msomi has been signed by Surrey Storm in the UK Netball Super League.

The 27-year-old mid-courter arrived in England last week and joined up with the squad ahead of the top of the table clash at Surrey Sports Park, ahead of their clash with Manchester Thunder on Saturday. The Storm went down 47—58 to the table-topping Thunder on the day.

Msomi is the third South African to join the Premier League, after SPAR Proteas captain Maryke Holtzhausen and defender Phumza Maweni signed for the Loughborough Lightning in January.

Msomi was part of the SPAR Proteas side, which featured at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, and will be challenging for a seat on the plane to the 2015 Netball World Cup in Sydney in August.

Surrey Storm player-coach Tamsin Greenway said: “I saw her playing at the Commonwealth Games, and that’s when I first approached her – that’s how long it’s been going on. She’s such a dynamic player. What I loved about her was that she offered something completely different – really quick, nippy and defensively strong – she’ll actually go in for a challenge, and what I loved was that she could feed Chrisna Bootha, who’s a really tall, strong shooter very similar to Rachel Dunn.

“You can’t underestimate having an international standard player coming into your side, and she’ll be really hungry. She’s really excited about coming in and so are we.”