A golden opportunity, but no room for error at the Netball World Cup

Next year, South African netball will have a golden opportunity to elevate the status of the sport when Cape Town hosts the quadrennial World Cup.

It’s probably the only chance the sport is going to have for a very long time to showcase itself at the highest level, and it cannot be wasted.

We are less than one year away from the tournament, however, and considering how important it is that the event is a success, there is some cause for alarm.

First off, for the sport to capitalise on the event, it is going to be absolutely crucial for the Proteas to perform. At the very least, they need to reach the playoffs if they want to lift the status of the game on home soil and rope in long-term support from local sport fans.

Disappointing results

But their performance at the recent Commonwealth Games in Birmingham was terribly disappointing. While they picked up a few wins against lower-tier opposition, they were thumped by Jamaica and Australia and were handed a shocking defeat by Uganda in the playoffs.

In terms of getting the country behind them ahead of the World Cup, that’s just not the way to do it, and they are going to have to find a way to lift their game before the tournament gets underway.

Secondly, and equally importantly, Netball SA needs to understand just how important it is that this event is an all-round success.

There cannot be any of the issues and decisions which we saw again this week at the Spar National Netball Championships, with late changes being made to fixtures and bizarre quota systems being enforced that punished a team which is completely transformed.

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Of course, the local organising committee will have the assistance of World Netball, which will no doubt play a role in ensuring everything is in place for a successful tournament, but we still need SA officials to raise their game.

In the long run, if the sport wants to become fully professional and receive the support it wants, there can be no more amateur approaches to anything.

Netball has never received the respect it deserves. It’s a great sport – as exciting to watch as any other – and it does more to get young girls on the sports field than just about all other codes combined.

It’s about time we saw netball being held in the same esteem as football, rugby and cricket, and South Africa might never again have an opportunity to change the face of the game by showcasing just how popular it can be.

So they’ve got to get it right. No weird decision making, no half measures in organisation and no space for the Proteas to bomb out against anyone.

Netball has one chance here. They’d better take it with both hands and run with it.