St Anne's Technical High School’s captain Luthando Mlenzana is thrilled to finally experience the DSTV Schools Netball Challenge (DSNC) national finals.
Mlenzana and her school will represent Free State at this year’s competition set for 12-13 July at Hoërskool Florida in Roodepoort, Joburg.
St Anne's played Ikaheng Zakheni Secondary School in the Ubuntu provincial finals to qualify for their first DSNC nationals.
The 2022 Botho winners C&N Sekondêre Meisieskool Oranje and Hoërskool Jim Fouché are the other schools that will represent the province in this year’s competition.
The DSCN, a nationwide competition which starts at district level, 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.
It is a partnership between Multichoice, South African Schools Netball, and the Department of Basic Education earmarked to unearth and nurture future stars.
“We feel very happy and excited about the opportunity to play at the nationals. I feel like we pushed a lot to get to this stage because it was tough where we came from. The games we played to get here were tough and not as easy as we thought. My team and I still have things to work on and fix before the national finals, things like footwork and our passes. But I am confident we will be able to fix that before we go to Joburg,” says Mlenzana.
The goalkeeper says it was a challenging road to booking their place in the finals.
“I hope we will perform well. I hope we will be able to fight for the first position because everyone is aiming for the first spot,” she says.
Over the years the competition has seen some of the top talent get to represent South Africa in competitions such as the Netball World Youth Cup Africa Cup Qualifiers and the Commonwealth Youth Games.
Mlenzana says she one day hopes to don the green and gold too. “I want to see myself playing for the (Spar) Proteas one day. This is where it starts. This is how I am going to build my career. Netball is my passion. I am dedicated and committed to it. I play netball at school and for Lejweleputswa (district), I train on both sides, and it makes me better every day. I love it with all my heart,” she says.