Varsity netball returns with a vengeance

The six-week long tournament features eight of South Africa’s best netball-playing varsities – the University of Free State (Kovsies), North West University (NWU-Pukke), the University of Johannesburg, Pretoria University (Tuks), the University of Cape Town, the University of Stellenbosch (Maties), the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (Madibaz) in Port Elizabeth and the Vaal University of Technology.

Last year’s Varsity Netball tournament trophy went to Kovsies after a gruelling match against North West University. The nail-biting final was the NWU-Pukke’s only defeat in the tournament.

The tournament serves as a grounding for the national team players and, after the Proteas beat England, ranked third in the world, last year in Port Elizabeth, and went on to win the Africa Championships in Malawi, the sport keeps climbing the popularity stakes among both players and fans.

Prominent players who will take part in this year’s tournament include Dumisani Chauke, Melissa Myburg, Adele Niemand, Karla Mostert, Maryka Holtzhausen and Anne Botha, the Players’ Player and Player of the Series in last year’s tournament.

The games will be played at the Callie Human Centre in Bloemfontein, the SANDF Kopanelo Hall in Potchefstroom, the UJ Soweto Imbizo Hall in Johannesburg and the UCT Sports Centre in Cape Town.

– Sapa