Schools netball gets a new partner for grassroots

As the Vitality Netball World Cup approaches, the sport is getting more and more attention, even for grassroots netball.

The South African Schools Netball (SASN) has bagged a new sponsor which is focused at improving number of participation.

The partnership between SASN and retailer, PEP, has launched a new tournament that is focused on primary school player.

The PEP Mini Netball will take place in a festival format which will see hundreds of players from the age of seven to 10 years old competing. However there will be no outright winners in the competition as at this level, SASN is hoping the kids will fall in love with the sport with the hope of seeing them one day choosing netball as a career.

Pep joins the likes of the Motsepe Foundation and DSTV in sponsoring netball at school level.

The competition which kicks off on 15 April will have a total of 18 festivals this year, starting in three provinces, the Western Cape, Gauteng and the Free State

SASN president, Di Woolley says getting more partners will help sustain the growth of the sport

“I have got a couple of prominent sponsors at schools netball and PEP is very prominent corporate figure in the world that speaks to so much. I think the fact that they have partnered with Schools Netball speaks volume. It speaks of the faith and the confidence they have in the code, it speaks of the fact that they want to invest in our youth and they want to start from the bottom up and I think that is what is important. Having PEP on board is huge, it is a corporate that is recognises. It is a corporate that has integrity and that is seen to give so much to the community. I am hoping this is going to branch out in so many ways, not just financially,” says Woolley.

PEP Chief Marketing Officer, Beyers van der Merwe says the partnership with SASN marks the start of what promises to be a life-changing experience for young girls and more importantly, ties back to the brand’s key founding principles of accessibility and positive influence in communities.

“The PEP Mini Netball Festivals are an exciting partnership for us, with our commitment to caring for the communities in which we operate, we believe we have found a sport and partner that shares the same ethos of encouraging self-belief in our communities. We are looking forward to working closely with our partner in laying a solid foundation for the development of school’s netball, while also holistically developing young girls with essential life skills that can also be used both on and off the court. We believe that the success of this partnership will not only be in developing talent, but empowering the next generation of girls into discovering what it truly means to be a champion,” says van der Merwe.

Spar Proteas assistant coach, Dumisani Chauke is the brand ambassador for this tournament. Chauke stresses the importance of having players that are at a young age playing structured netball.

“It’s crucial because you don’t only want them to get into organised sport when they get to high school or university or provincial level.

Already at this level they will learn how to stick to schedules, how to be on time for games, how to manage themselves and to manage their time. It’s quite important and it is an amazing partnership. I never shy away from opportunities like this because sometimes people will only look at you when you are at provincial level and they think you had everything easy.

The moment you open your mouth and share your story, you don’t know who you are inspiring and motivating to keep going.

Sometimes I get goosebumps myself as who would have thought that a young black girl from a township small township of Malamulele would one day be an assistant coach of a national team at a World Cup in South Africa? I mean people like me don’t have dreams like that,” says Chauke.

Woolley says netball at school level is doing well and there are a lot of players involved in the sport.

“Very much alive and kicking. We have competitive sport from Under-12 all the way through to Under-19, both at school level and with the selected teams.

We have got an Africa Championships taking place on the 28th and 29th of April at Hoerskool Florida for the Under-17 age group, which also is a sign that we are alive and kicking.

We have countries like Kenya, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana and ourselves who will be participating this year. Once one tastes a little bit of continental netball, that is great because it’s a stepping stone. It’s not always a good thing to go into the big world, one needs to start with baby steps. Once they start here they have an opportunity to go to the next step. I think we are going places,” she says.