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South Africa set for new chapter against the Malawi Queens

netball30 October 2024 17:36
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Towera Vinkhumbo (Malawi captain) and Khanyisa Chawane (SPAR Proteas captain) ยฉ Gallo Images

Jenny van Dyk will get to see her vision come to life as she leads the Spar Proteas for the first time.

Van Dyk and her assistant coach, Zanele Mdodana, will finally experience their acid test as South Africa host Malawi in a three-test series in the Spar Challenge at the Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg.

This will be the first time the senior national team will be playing on home soil since the Netball World Cup in Cape Town in 2023.

The Proteas have been camp for a week to prepare for the tournament set for 31 October to 3 November.

The team has also changed slightly from the side that finished sixth at the World Cup, there are only eight players from that squad that are part of this competition.

Van Dyk is following in the heavy footsteps of former mentor, Norma Plummer who coached the year in two stints.

The former University of Pretoria coach says sheโ€™s excited for the opportunity to lead the team for the first time and is not feeling any external pressure of doing well with the team.

โ€œI am not feeling any pressure from anybody, I put the pressure on myself regardless of anybody else. Nobody has told me that thereโ€™s โ€˜thisโ€™ expectations but obviously, I want our team to have a good start. Both Zan and I have worked around the clock to make sure that our players are in a position where we hope to hit the ground running. This is the first time that we will be taking to court and I think itโ€™s the unexpectedness and not knowing part that can sometimes be quite a stressful thing. But that is the part of this sport and what we live on, the adrenaline of that moment,โ€ says van Dyk.

She says the preparations were key to getting the team to gel and also work on countering what the Queens will lay on court.

โ€œBefore we went into camp, we worked remotely with our players for a week or two. Zan and I travelled to the players to work with them in their provinces to get a bit of extra work done which only left us to work with combinations settled (while in camp). That has been our biggest focus to make sure that we find our rhythm, to make sure that we teach them and revise how Malawi plays their game, how we are going to counter what they do on court,โ€ she says.

OPPORTUNITY FOR NEW PLAYERS

The retiring of experienced players such as Phumza Maweni, Bongiwe Msomi, and Izette Griesel presents an opportunity for new players to take up the places that had been occupied by the seniors.

Anรฉ Retief is one of the players who might get the chance to fill in these big shoes.

The captain of the University of the Free State is the only player who is uncapped in the squad and could be donning the green and gold for the first time during this test series.

โ€œEverybody who saw Anรฉ last year in the TNL and the Varsity Cup that she had some stellar performances. She is a hard worker and she is so fit. She is one of the fittest goalkeepers I have ever seen for the national team, she is such a dedicated player. She has not quite gotten an opportunity but she will also be going to the Fast5 (World Series). We have strategically added a few players to the team in order to give them more caps against the top teams. She might find herself in the 12 (player squad) and hopefully, she gets that first cap within the three test series. Losing Phumza in that position we lost so much experience and it is not something you make up overnight,โ€ she explains.

Malawi Queens captain Towera Vinkhumbo admits that competing with South Africa is always tough.

The seventh-ranked team in the world will be playing for the first time since the World Cup last year.

The squad has seen some changes since then with only four players competed in the global competition including Martha Dambo, Vinkhumbo, and Thandi Galeta.

โ€œWe have been training back at home for three weeks. It has been quiet since playing at the World Cup. We are hoping we are going to win these games but not only that, the coaches are going to get the sense of the state of the team as there are new faces in the team. Some will be playing for the first time at international level. We know that when we play South Africa, it is always tough. We havenโ€™t changed our system much, we are here to help the upcoming players adapt to our system of playing,โ€ says Vinkhumbo.

The Spar Challenge will also present the senior menโ€™s team with a chance to get some court time.

The last time the Puma Proteas played was during the Africa Netball Cup in Gaborone, Botswana where they took the gold medal at the inaugural menโ€™s competition.

They will face Zimbabwe in a three test series which will be used as the curtain raisers for the Spar Challenge.

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