Free States’s C&N Sekondêre Meisieskool Oranje will have a chance to go back to the top of the podium as they return to the DSTV Schools Netball Challenge (DSNC) national finals.
The 2022 winners together with Hoërskool Jim Fouché, St Anne's Technical High School, and Ikaheng Zakheni Secondary School will represent the Free State at the nationals set for 12-13 July at Hoërskool Florida in Roodepoort, Joburg. Oranje and Jim Fouché will play in the Botho division while Ikaheng and St Anne's will compete in the Ubuntu stream.
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.
Oranje captain, Marguerite Cronjé says playing for the pride of their school motivates them to push harder when they are on the court.
“The pride we have for our school makes us the team that we are and we are not just playing for ourselves but for every girl in our school, to show unity. We stick to the basics and when everyone does their job, we play our hearts out. We did well, we did our best. We played our game and didn’t focus on what the other teams did. We just played good Oranje netball. We want to win the top schools tournament this year but we know it’s going to take hard work. We are going to take it step by step,” says Cronjé.
Ikaheng’s Tlhonolofatso Motloung says they are working to get to the top of the podium at the nationals. The Lejweleputswa-based team took the bronze medal in the nationals last year and Motloung says they are confident they will do better.
“The matches were a bit challenging but we managed to communicate our strategy as a team and we got the results we wanted. Our opponents are taller than us and we don’t have the height (advantage) and we got a lot of contact calls. We want to get to position one, it’s a must,” says Motloung.
Free State Schools Netball president Constance Monyobo is pleased with how the provincial round of the competition went. She says all the schools showed impressive form.
“It was a tough competition for some teams that are used to winning. It is a different ball game. It has been a very beautiful day, our Botho teams showed up, and so did the Ubuntu teams. We have two teams from the same region (Botho) It was a really good day today,” says Monyobo.