The mantra ‘SPAR is good for netball’ was prominent during the official launch of the multipurpose sport centre by Malelane SUPARSPAR on Saturday.
Even though the sport courts also accommodate other sporting codes, Malelane SUPERSPAR’s owner, Lex Hollmann, has made it clear the centre is dedicated primarily to netball.
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According to Hollmann, this is something they have always wanted to do, and with the Netball World Cup coming to South Africa this year, the stars have aligned in their favour. “Our staff would usually travel far to play soccer and netball tournaments. That for me was the gem of the idea; these courts are because of them. They will be playing the first game against the SPAR Distribution Centre as an inaugural game for the courts. We’ve always wanted to do something great, and it’s humbling to stand here and watch it all come together this way. The 24 participating teams will go back home with Netball World Cup replica balls as a gift,” said Hollmann.
The event was also attended by the president of the South African Netball Association, Cecilia Molokwane, who made proclamations that the Twizza Netball Club Championship finals for this year would be hosted at this multipurpose sport centre.
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“I want to encourage the young children here to have dreams. Today we will be hosting a world cup in South Africa because I had a dream and I pursued it. We are now counting down fewer than 100 days to the opening because of that dream. We appreciate what SPAR has done here, because this will make dreams come true for many – it will produce players on various levels,” Molokwane said.
The MEC for the Mpumalanga Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, Thandi Shongwe, was also in attendance. She encouraged schools to also use the courts for their sporting events.
“Having a facility of this calibre is encouraging for our children. We are preparing for the Netball World Cup as a country, and this could not have come at a better time. We promise that these courts will definitely be utilised by the schools and the community. We would also like to encourage schools to incorporate sports in their timetable and not just as an ad hoc,” she said.
