Spar Proteas’ Kamogelo Maseko believes the Africa Netball Cup will be more than just about stamping their authority on the continent but it will also be about testing how deep the talent pool is in South Africa.
The national team will be heading to Nairobi, Kenya for the competition which also serves as the 2027 Netball World Cup qualifier which will be held in Sydney, Australia.
However the Jenny van Dyk-led side has already qualified for the 16-nation competition alongside Uganda, New Zealand, Jamaica, England, and hosts Australia. The top six ranked countries get automatic qualification to the global spectacle.
The Moi International Sports Centre in Nairobi will also host the men’s edition of the Africa Netball Cup, where five teams will be competing for the title, including the defending champions, South Africa.
There are two more spaces available for the continent at the World Cup. South Africa go into the continental competition as the most successful side, with four titles. Only four out of the 12-woman squad represented South Africa at the Commonwealth Games in August. Owethu Ngubane, Refiloe Nketsa, Rolene Streutker, and Maseko were in Glasgow for the Commonwealths.
The Proteas are in Pool A of the competition with Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and Tanzania, while Pool B consists of three-time winners Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, hosts Kenya and newcomers Nigeria.
South Africa will open their campaign against Tanzania and Maseko says although defending their title successfully is important, the Africa Cup will be important to testing the depth of South African netball.
“The priority is to win. We are going there as defending champions and we have to defend our title. Also, in preparation for the World Cup, it is important for us to keep the connections and also get to see the depth of netball in South Africa.
"When we can get the job done, we will give the coaches and the selectors a whole lot of names to consider for the World Cup. This also creates a competitive element in the team so that people in the Proteas team can’t get complacent.
"It is going to be crucial how we perform in the Africa Cup because it is going to be essential in growing netball in South Africa,” said Maseko.
The shifty goal attack will take the armband at the competition. Maseko is not new to the leadership role. She is the captain at the University of Pretoria and led the team to their last Varsity Netball Cup title in 2023. However, she understands that the roles of being a captain at a club and the national team are different.
“I always say it is such a huge privilege to be able to represent your country. But I think as captain it just made me more excited. I understand the responsibility that I have. it's a huge one. I think leadership shares the same principles, it is about setting an example for the team.
"As a captain, your performance on court speaks volumes but above all being selfless and playing the vital role of integrating people. But I think I'm more excited about the team itself. It's such a new team, it's a new squad. It'll be exciting to see how everyone gels, and the connections we will build on court. It’s such an exciting time,” she explained.
Meanwhile, Botswana coach Martha Mosoahle-Samm hopes that she will be able to lead her side to their maiden World Cup appearance in Sydney. Dinaledi narrowly missed out on the 2015 edition of the competition after finishing third in the qualifier in 2014.
As part of their preparations, Mosoahle-Samm used the Spar Netball Championships and two preparation matches against Eswatini. The Free State Crinums coach is hopeful that her previous record with other teams will guide the team to doing the unthinkable and finish in the top two of the competition.
“When they brought me in, it was to definitely qualify for the World Cup. We are working towards that. I have done the unthinkable before, I am going to hang on to that. It is in our minds that this is what we want to achieve.
"It’s going to be extremely difficult and we are being realistic but we want to throw our name in there and see if Botswana can pull through,” said Mosoahle-Samm.
The former SA Fast5 coach says she is happy with how much her team has progressed since she took over the coaching reins of the team.
“I am particularly impressed with the youngsters, I think we are building something great. I had to change a lot and introduce a team culture. The team needs to know what they stand for and why they are there.
"It was a bit of a challenge when I started because the girls were just playing. The fact that they now know that they are representing themselves, they are taking accountability and they are recognising who they are. I am quite impressed with how far we have come,” she explained.