Shayamoya High School will be looking to have a better showing at this year’s national finals of the DStv Schools Netball Challenge (DSNC), powered by Bestmed Medical Scheme.
The Netball Challenge is a collaboration between Multichoice and the SA Schools Netball and it offers a platform for young athletes an equal opportunity to showcase their talent on a national stage.
The DSNC is divided into two streams, Botho and Ubuntu, it has been a platform for national coaches and selectors to spot and observe talent.
The school based in the rural Shayamoya Area Location in Kokstad were crowned the Botho winners at the KwaZulu Natal provincial finals.
They beat Welabasha High School 25-15 to secure a ticket to the nationals set for 25-26 July at the Hoërskool Dr EG Jansen in Boksburg.
Thembalethu Senior Secondary School and Masibonisane High School will compete in the Ubuntu stream after reaching the final in their division.
Thembalethi won the division 17-9.
Shayamoya goal defender, Sinegugu Gamede said her school is gunning for the gold medal in Johannesburg after finishing fifth in the 2024 edition of the competition.
Gamede said she is confident of going all the way to the top of the podium.
“We want to redeem ourselves from Kimberley (Wildeklawer SuperSchools netball). We got ninth position. We are preparing to redeem ourselves and to get position one at the DSTV Schools. It is very important for us to redeem ourselves because our coach (Berto Mnikina) was not happy with our performance in Kimberley. We want to show him that we want to win,” said Gamede.
Baby Proteas coach Precious Mthembu was impressed by the standard of netball that was displayed by the schools.
“It’s a good competition, especially at this age. This is the beginning of them playing out of school level, preparing for university level. There is some good netball that I have seen. Good heart, good speed. The intensity is quite good. It is the beginning of development. This is where it starts, if you don’t have it, you can never get the girls to be on the level that is expected of them at the university level. With netball, the more you play, the more exposure and the more experience you get with pressure,” said Mthembu.
QUALIFIED SCHOOLS
Botho
Shayamoya High School
Ubuntu
Thembalethu Senior Secondary School
Masibonisane High School