Bongiwe Msomi: Born to play netball

For someone who started playing netball by accident, Bongiwe Msomi keeps proving that she was born to play the sport.

The Spar Proteas captain became the highest capped player for the national team when she reached 151 caps for South Africa during the Netball World Cup Africa qualifiers in Pretoria in which the Dorette Badenhorst-led side walked away with the gold medal, Malawi took silver while Zimbabwe won the bronze medal and a place in the global competition set for Cape Town in 2023.

Msomi will be the first captain to lead the national team at the first World Cup to be hosted on African soil after seeing the team finish in the top four of the competition in the last edition which was held in Liverpool. That was the first time in 25 years that South Africa ever made it that far in the competition.

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Bongiwe Msomi started playing netball by accident and keeps proving that she was born to play the sport ??

Read her story down below ??

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She is one of a few players that plied her trade in the top two most competitive club leagues in the world, having playing in the Vitality Netball Super League for Surrey Storm and Wasp Netball and in Australia’s Suncorp Super Netball for Adelaide Thunderbirds.

The 34-year-old made her debut for the Proteas in 2011 and her pacey and creative play on court saw her get appointed as Maryka Holtzhausen's assistant before she got the role permanently in 2016, following Holtzhausen’s knee injury.

“It’s been exciting, I have to say. There’s been a lot of achievements, challenges, a lot of looking forward to something and it’s funny that until today there still is a sense of there’s something exciting coming but it really feels short that I have come to 150 caps. Especially because I never thought that would happen this year, I don’t pay too much attention to it but it’s really such a great achievement. It’s something I can’t take lightly. I’m really grateful,” says Msomi.

After Msomi returned to South Africa following her second spell in the United Kingdom where she played for Wasp, she took up a coaching job at the University of Johannesburg. She has been the mentor for the side since 2019 and has seen some of her players graduate into the senior national team.

“I have to thank God for the idea of knowing when to take one big decision, moving forward into the next level, not just my netball career but my life in general. It was really hard to think of having an offer to play again overseas for Wasp but also maybe saying cut to that because of the offer I had at UJ. That decision actually changed my life completely. At the beginning of it, I wasn’t sure but until today, I am so grateful. I think I am actually enjoying netball more and I don’t have to worry about what the future would look like when I stop playing,” she explains.

“The most exciting thing and probably one of the most awkward moments was to stand with them as Spar Proteas and actually hand out caps to the girls that I coach. That was probably one of the highlights of my career, it’s been a dream that in my time I would be able to do something like that but I feel it’s bigger than I thought it could be. Because I know if anyone is given a chance, are supported fully and obviously given the right information, they can actually be as big as they want to be. I love that I am seeing this with the girls,” she says.

Nomfundo Mngomezulu, Tarle Mathe and Boitumelo Mahloko were all recently called up to the national team, with Mathe earning her first cap during the recent qualifiers. They also played alongside Msomi during the Telkom Netball League in which the Gauteng Golden Fireballs won their maiden title.

“The biggest thing is it’s not even about me on how I helped them to be where they are, it’s actually about me being fully supportive of what they can be. I always tell them that I’m not their friend but they know they can learn as much as they can from me and I openly help them to be the best they can be. It’s just great seeing them progressing, obviously, without the time and commitment from their side and my side, all of this wouldn’t have happened,” she adds.

Being signed to one of the biggest player management companies, Roc Nation Sports, also changes how the world looks at the sport but also African players. She is the only netball player on the books of the international agency. The KwaZulu Natal-born athlete says being part of the agency has made her life a little easier.

“The Roc Nations signing was such a confidence booster, it’s something that I respected from the day I put the signature on my contract and until today. I am so grateful that the people that I didn’t even think would actually approach me actually did. They had one understanding that ‘we want to support you on and off the court. We think you have done fantastic things and it’s time someone makes you feel appreciated.’

"I constantly engage with them on things we do behind the scenes but even when we have general sittings and meetings. I still get hyped by the idea of ‘who are these people and why me’ it gives me the idea that I have what I think I have and I can offer more than what I think I have,” she says.