Johannesburg confident of retaining national netball title at home

Defending champions Johannesburg are confident of retaining their SA title as they gear up to face strong opponents in tough conditions at the Spar National Netball Championships being played at Ellis Park this week.

Last year the Johannesburg side successfully defended their senior A-division crown, beating Mangaung in the final in Rustenburg, and they will target their third straight title as hosts of the six-day domestic showpiece starting on Monday morning.

“Aiming to win it for the third time might be tough but we’re seeing it as motivation rather than pressure so we’re looking forward to it and the energy levels are very good,” said new Johannesburg captain Didintle Keebine, a former captain of the Dr Kenneth Kaunda district team.

Warm conditions

For the second year in succession, the national championships (usually held in August) have been pushed back to avoid clashes with other major sports events, in an attempt to get full media coverage.

This means players will be competing in much warmer conditions than they usually would, but Johannesburg assistant coach Tshepiso Basiamisi believed her team had prepared sufficiently to combat the conditions.

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“We live and train in Joburg, and we’ve been training outside in the afternoons to get the girls to acclimatise to the weather conditions,” Basiamisi said.

“The weather conditions will affect all of us, not just particular teams, and we have an advantage because we’re home, so we’re used to this environment.”

Multiple categories

More than 2,400 netball players will compete at the national championships this week, representing 52 districts in various senior and U21 divisions.

There will be 10 teams competing in the senior A division, including the SA U21 side, who will not be in contention for the title but will use the tournament to prepare for the World Youth Cup to be played in Gibraltar next year.

For the first time, four deaf teams – representing Western Cape, Gauteng, Limpopo and Northern Cape – will compete at the national championships which comes to a close with the finals to be contested on Saturday.