Jade Atkins says the Spar Baby Proteas want to bring the same sense of pride that the Junior Springboks have brought to South Africa.
The agile midcourt player is part of coach Precious Mthembu's squad that will represent South Africa at the 2025 Netball Youth World Cup, which will take place in Gibraltar from 19-28 September.
Twenty teams will compete in the tournament this year. Five teams pre-qualified for the World Cup, while the remaining 15 teams competed in the Regional Qualifiers in 2024. New Zealand, Australia, England, and Fiji all automatically qualified for the quadrennial competition after finishing in the top four in the last edition. Gibraltar qualified as the host country.
📣 ICYMI - Netball South Africa has officially announced the SPAR Baby Proteas squad 🇿🇦 for the Netball World Youth Cup 2025 in Gibraltar — happening 19–28 September! 🏆🔥
— Netball South Africa (@Netball_SA) July 25, 2025
👉 https://t.co/wHRGX4HcCl#SPARBabyProteas #WeAreAllIn #RoadToGibraltar #NWYC2025GIB #TogetherWeRise pic.twitter.com/nnasSgsfax
The Baby Proteas finished in seventh place in the 2017 edition held in Botswana. The competition makes a return this year after the 2021 leg was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Our main goal is to get a podium position, that is our main goal. We just want to come back with something shiny on. We are representing our country, and we would like to be like the Junior Bokke. They just won the gold medal at the World Rugby Under-20 Championship, so we also want to do that for the netball now,” says Atkins.
Atkins made the final squad from a pool of 25 players who were part of the Baby Proteas players that took part in the Telkom Netball League, which Mthembu used as trials, as well as final selection for the global competition. Coach Mthembu and her assistant, Phumza Maweni, used the first two Power Weeks to finalise and narrow their squad from 25 players to 15.
'EXCITED AND HONOURED'
Atkins says that she is excited to represent South Africa at her first World Cup.
“I'm feeling very excited. I'm very honoured to play for my country and represent them. I think it's a massive opportunity to play on the big world stage, so I'm really looking forward to it,” she says.
The Baby Proteas are yet to bring a medal from the competition, and Atkins is hopeful that her generation will be able to make some change.
“So I think when you play in the World Cup, you don't want to just play for your team at the moment, you want to play for the teams to come as well, for South Africa. If we end up in the top four, then South Africa will automatically qualify for the next World Cup. So I think that pressure is definitely something that we need to prepare for, because it's a big one here,” she explains.
The Baby Proteas probably had one of the easiest qualifications for the World Cup. They came out tops with a 100 per cent winning record in the Africa Regional Qualifiers and won gold, beating neighbours the Young Queens of Malawi in the final of the competition. Both sides, including Zambia, will all represent the continent at the 20-team global spectacle.
“I think because we're working with the same coaches, I think we can replicate what we did at the African qualifiers in the World Cup again,” she says.
UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN COACHES AND PLAYERS
Atkins says that having watched both Mthembu and Maweni, who retired in recent years, allows them to relate well to the players.
“She is very strict, but she is not as strict as coach Jenny (van Dyk) was. But honestly, it's such a great opportunity to work under coach Precious because she was also a player herself, who played at the national level. As a player, you can learn so much from her, and you can gain so much experience from her, as she knows what she's doing. Our assistant coach Phumza just finished playing as well. She was an amazing defender. So we have two amazing coaches on our side, and we know we've got to do very well with them there,” she says.
Mthembu’s chargers have been pitted in pool D along with Barbados, Malawi, Fiji, and Trinidad and Tobago. The Baby Proteas' performance against Jamaica early in the year will come in handy when facing the teams from the Caribbean in the competition. South Africa took a 3-0 whitewash over the young Sunshine Girls during the Margaret Beckford Sunshine Series in January.
However, they may have to put up a fight when they face the Baby Pearls, who took the fourth spot in the last edition of the competition. The Baby Proteas will have a couple of training camps in August for the final preparations before heading to Gibraltar early next month.
BABY PROTEAS FULL SQUAD
Jade Atkins, Renezia Andrews, Ametisse Bandu, Kyla Dames, Mbali Diphoko, Lisa Ingwersen, Luca Keun, Bianca Lubbe, Nonkcubeko Mjaliswa, Phophi Nematangari (captain), Zahrah Noah, Giada Prinsloo, Luane Smith, Karla Victor, and Kiara Van Eeden.