University of Pretoria coach, Erin Burger, believes her team has refined following the revamp early this year.
The former Spar Proteas player took over the coaching position in March after long-time Tuks coach, Jenny van Dyk was appointed the head coach of the senior national team.
Burger has already led the team at this year’s University Sport South Africa Netball Championships in July where the team walked away with the gold medal. UP-Tuks began their Varsity Netball title defensive campaign with a clean slate, winning both their opening matches.
First in the Tshwane derby against the Tshwane University of Technology, where they obliterated their neighbours taking a 95-9 victory. They also faced the University of the Witwatersrand who they swept to the side with a 39-64 win. The former Queensland Firebirds player reckons the team has become more refined and fluid since that competition.
“It’s been a rough year in the sense that there are a lot of uncontrollable (situations). I think I took the team quite late in the year because I only started in March but I think the team has grown a lot. We all know the challenges and we have accepted them.
I feel we are in a good space for where we want to be now going into the Varsity Netball. The team is doing good at the moment. At Ussa, I think we did quite well but we felt there were a lot of things that we could do better.
We did a lot of video analysis and worked a lot on the stats, we pointed out the things we need to work on and the things we need to do better. We have been working on those,” Burger says.
Burger has got a formidable team on her bench. Her former teammates Shadine van der Merwe and Tshina Mdau are her assistant coaches for this competition. The duo brings a wealth of experience to the team from the senior national team.
Both players have also won the Varsity Netball tournament as players, while van der Merwe has another feather in her hat. She was van Dyk’s right-hand woman when the Tshwane side won the tournament last year.
“I think the fact that they know what it is like being a player gives me a lot of comfort in their work with the team and behind the scenes with the players. They know what is expected and what a player needs to perform well. It is not like someone who hasn’t been there and doesn’t know what to expect or understand pressure. They are players who used to perform under pressure, I think they bring the calmness of what needs to be done,” she says.
Tuks also has several players who have represented the country in various teams. Kyla Dames, Kamogelo Maseko, Phophi Nematangari, and Kylie van Wyk all bring international experience that the team will rely on to secure a successful campaign.
“The knowledge and experience they have gained from playing international games they bring that to the team. I can see the intensity every time they have been on a camp or on tour, and then the rest of the players want to get on board. They say they want to train against those (national) players. I think they really bring a lot of that back,” she says.
The former midcourt player doesn’t think there is extra pressure on her and the team to deliver the trophy back to Tshwane. UP-Tuks are looking to secure their fourth Varsity Netball title.
“I don’t think there is extra pressure, personally, I’m quite competitive and I do want to do well. There is also the culture at Tuks (of competitiveness) that they also want to do well. I think the fact that we won last year lets them know that we can (defend the title). Is it going to be easy? A 100 per cent not but we are all on the same page regarding that. I don’t think there is extra pressure but there is pressure on everyone to perform well. Everyone wants to perform well at the Varsity Netball,” she explains.
Even after a 100 per cent record at last year’s tournament, the mentor understands that the competition won’t be an easy ride.
“There’s always a Kovsies (University of the Free State) and a Maties (Stellenbosch University) but when you look at last year’s final there was UJ (University of Johannesburg), they also bring something different.
I think each team has different strengths and there are things that you need to counter. We are looking forward to that challenge. I think every team is going to be tough in different ways,” she says.