The introduction of the Rea Bapala Males Netball Festival has brought up the conversation for more competitions for men’s netball in the country. The recent contest that was held at the Central University of Technology in the Free State is only the third competition for males in the country after the National Championship and the Twizza Club Championship.
This was the first time that Netball South Africa held a provincial male netball competition. This tournament had a total of 17 teams taking part, seven senior A teams, four senior B teams, and five Under-23 teams. Neighbours Lesotho, also took part and competed in the senior A division while the Department of Correctional Services played in the senior B section.
As men’s netball continues to grow in popularity in the country, there is still a thirst for more competitions that run longer. All three competitions run for a week at most, which doesn’t give the players the challenge they need especially when they get to play for the national team.
Inaugural Rea Bapala winning coach, Nhlakanipho Kunene reckons that there is some growth when it comes to men’s netball in terms of the competitions that Netball SA has initiated. KwaZulu Natal beat Gauteng in the final of the competition to take the maiden title.
“It’s a good initiative having a males only championship, it serves the sport well. I found it interesting that players were committed to the tournament even though it was in December. They chose to put their holidays on hold to take part to get the platform to probably be selected for the national team. In KwaZulu Natal, we’re one of the biggest provinces, we have a lot of players, and most of our players were committed. It opened up an opportunity for the other players who do not get a chance to play at the national level,” says Kunene.
“I think so far Netball South Africa is doing okay because you must start somewhere. You cannot just have drastic changes but having the Twizza tournament and Rea Bapala is a step in the right direction. Most people thought Rea Bapala is an ordinary tournament but how they saw the event unfold on the day, they saw that it is taking height more than the National Championships and how NSA presented the tournament was so overwhelming. It’s a good start and a stepping stone to great things coming for males netball in South Africa,” he adds.
Although the national men’s Proteas took on to an international court for the first time, at the Americas Netball Men's Championship in St Vincent and the Grenadines, the team didn’t receive as much noise as the women’s national team in the competitions they took part in. Kekana hopes that men’s netball at both club and national levels receive attention and marketing to grow the audience and hopefully rope in sponsors for teams and competitions too.
“I would love to see a national league for men. I know sometimes it has to do with getting sponsors and endorsements, and I know that not everyone can come on board without getting publicity or something like that. If men can get some publicity to show what they can
do to take netball to greater heights, and learn from the likes of Australia and New Zealand on how they push their ladies, it’s almost equal to how they push the males in their countries. If we can close that gap and get more publicity, more sponsorship that can take our netball, not only males, to greater heights,” he adds.
KZN director of selections, Joseph KaMhlongo concurs that the creation of a national league would also prompt other provinces to invest more in the sport to create a competition for the top teams in KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng, who have been dominating the scene for a couple of years.
“We do see that there is a national league for ladies' soccer, why can’t we have the same for men’s netball? It may not deprive what the ladies are getting but just a share, just the basic like ‘let’s create a platform for the males,’ even if we had to pay for ourselves. Just an opportunity to have that, to ‘bring your own team you will fund them as provinces and they can play.’ We would do that but there isn’t even that opportunity or environment that we can play at the national league level. One was optimistic with the Netball World Cup coming thinking that the attention on male netball would be a legacy left by the World Cup next year,” says KaMhlongo.
Although Netball SA has been acquiring sponsorship over the last few years, men’s netball hasn’t been receiving the same attention from corporates. This could be the reason why some parts of the country don’t have thriving netball communities.
“Male netball always gets the raw end of the deal, it is not sponsored. Yes, we know netball is a predominantly female sport, and the resources from our mother body are aimed at that. The only province that recognises male netball is KZN and you will find that in different districts of different provinces, when they go to the national games, only the females are sponsored and males are not sponsored. Some don’t even bring male netball teams,” says KaMhlongo.