New challenge for netball – Pienaar

Former Springbok rugby captain and Varsity Sports CEO Francois Pienaar said the competition would go a long way in giving netball more exposure. “Netball is the biggest women’s sport in South Africa,” Pienaar said on Thursday.

“The Varsity Challenge will give it more exposure, and take the game to another level.” Pienaar said the idea behind Varsity Sports was to promote sport at South African universities, and to utilise their facilities to develop sports stars.

“The universities should be the springboard for our national teams in all disciplines. “Sixty-six per cent of the medals South Africa won at the Olympic Games last year were won by Tuks students, and a majority of medallists at the Paralympics were from Stellenbosch University, which shows how important the universities are in developing sport.”

Netball is the fifth sport to be included in Varsity Challenge competitions, following rugby, hockey, athletics and soccer. Pienaar said the concept was based on the American collegiate system, where college teams received massive support from the community.

“The Challenge series gives universities the opportunity to showcase themselves and as the concept develops, more students will be given the opportunity to earn sports scholarships to universities,” he said. The Varsity Netball Challenge, featuring eight universities, gets under way on September 21.

Each team will play seven round-robin matches, after which the top four will move on to semi-finals, while the bottom four will go into play-off matches to the decide the lower positions.

Coach of the Spar national netball team, Elize Kotze, said the Varsity Challenge was wonderful news for netball. “The top players are always complaining that they don’t have enough game time,” she said.

“The Netball Challenge will give them intense competition at a high level, and will do wonders for the sport.” The Proteas players will miss the first weekend of competition, as they will be playing a three-Test series against England in the United Kingdom, but will return to the Challenge when they get back.

– Sapa