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Lessons learned from South Africa's FAST5 Netball World Series campaign

netball11 November 2024 06:30
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The South African FAST5 Women's team ©Michael Bradley Photography 

South Africa concluded their 2024 FAST5 Netball World Series on Sunday and will now look to reflect on the lessons learned and chart a course for the future of the local game.

While the women's team showcased impressive form, the men's team faced unfortunate circumstances. The women's team secured a convincing 37-20 win over Uganda, extending their winning streak to three matches in their first match of day 2.

Zandré Smit led the scoring efforts, while Amber Coraizin was named Player of the Match for her defensive prowess. “It was absolutely amazing this year, I just loved it,” said Smit as the goal shooter raved about the team spirit and positive experience at the World Series tournament.

“The team was amazing; we were hyping each other up, putting confidence in each other, we were literally playing for each other on the court, and that was amazing. The coaches were amazing, all the decision-making was great.

The world caught a glimpse of the incredible team spirit that Smit spoke about as the SA women's team, cheered on by their male counterparts on the stands, took on New Zealand in their second game. Despite dominating much of the match, a late surge from the hosts, including crucial six-point super shots, sealed a narrow 41-40 victory for New Zealand. Rolene Streukter's outstanding performance earned her the Player of the Match award.

SA concluded their campaign with a 46-42 loss to Uganda in the third-place playoff. Rolene Streukter once again led the team's scoring efforts, but Uganda's strong finish secured the win.

Default Loss

The South African men's team faced a devastating setback in their match against New Zealand. Despite leading 31-30, a series of unfortunate events led to a default win for the host country. Two South African players were suspended, leaving the team with fewer than the required four players on the court. This forced the match to be abandoned, resulting in a 32-31 loss for South Africa.

Despite the disappointing outcome, William Lethoko's impressive performance, where he scored 21 goals, was a bright spot for the South African team. He was named Player of the Match.

Reflecting on the match, Head Coach Neville Chapepa expressed his pride in the team's performance. “I am so happy with the boys. The performance [against New Zealand] was great,” he said. “They did very well. They followed the instructions that we had given, and they applied the strategies and techniques appropriately.

“You could see that now they listened, and they began to take the ones and the twos as we have been emphasising the whole time - they kept the scoreboard ticking and managed to lead New Zealand from start to finish, but unfortunately, in the last minute, there were two contacts in the last power play and the rules state that you must always have four players on the court, but unfortunately, we were reduced to three, so the game was then called off in the last I think 30 seconds. We lost the game by default.

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SA RESULTS:

South Africa v Uganda: 37-20 (W)

Q1: 6-2

Q2: 10-11

Q3: 9-3

Q4: 12-4

Player of the Match: Amber Coraizin

New Zealand v South Africa: 32-31 (M)

Q1: 6-9

Q2: 11-4

Q3: 9-16

Q4: 4-2

Player of the Match: William Lethoko

New Zealand v South Africa: 41-40 (W)

Q1: 5-9

Q2: 4-14

Q3: 10-8

Q4: 22-9

Player of the Match: Rolene Streutker

3rd/4th Place - South Africa v Uganda: 42-46 (W)

Q1: 9-15

Q2: 7-6

Q3: 12-16

Q4: 14-9

FAST5 Netball World Series Player Awards:

Women’s Player of the series: Martina Salmon (New Zealand)

Men’s Player of the series: Timothy Apisai (New Zealand)

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