Excitement is bubbling up as over 40 schools vie for top honours in the DSTV Schools Netball Challenge (DSNC) national finals.
Over 2 800 schools registered for this year’s competition in March but only two will be crowned as the best schools in Under-19 netball in the country.
All eyes will be on the Ubuntu stream of the competition that will see a new school being crowned as champions following the exit of last year’s winners, Hlabi Secondary School not making the national finals of the tournament.
Botho defending champions, Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool Pretoria (Affies) will be looking to stamp their authority in their stream by successfully defending their title.
However that won’t be an easy feat for them as the inaugural winners, C&N Sekondêre Meisieskool Oranje are determined to get back to the top
“We want to win the top schools tournament this year but we know it’s going to take hard work,” says Oranje captain Marguerite Cronjé.
The tournament has shown competitiveness over the years, seeing a number of teams coming out victorious at the two day competition.
There have been five winners since the challenge was launched in 2021.
Free State’s Oranje, North West’s Potchefstroom Gimnasium and Eastern Cape’s KwaZakhele High School are the other schools that have lifted the trophy.
Hlabi are the only side to have won the competition more than once.
Hoërskool Florida in Roodepoort will host the two day national finals from 12-14 July.
The DSCN is divided into two streams, Botho and Ubuntu, which offer the same platform for schools in both urban and rural areas to experience the sport on the same level.
The tournament is in its fourth year running and it is a partnership between Multichoice, South African Schools Netball, and the Department of Basic Education aimed to unearth and nurture future stars.
Some of the stars that were scouted from the competition have gone to represent South Africa in competitions like the Netball World Youth Cup Africa qualifiers and Commonwealth Youth Games where South Africa won the silver medal.