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Countdown to the World Cup continues with just 200 days to go
The Netball World Cup is drawing closer and the excitement is continuing to build.
The global competition is just 200 days away and South Africa is ready to welcome the world to the first World Cup to be held on the continent.
The upcoming Quad Series will be the first test this year to gauge the readiness for the host city. The competition involving the Spar Proteas, England, Australia and New Zealand will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, the venue for the 16-team tournament in July. This will be just the third time that South Africa hosts this event which will be held in Cape Town for the very first time.
Netball South Africa has shown its commitment to bringing a successful tournament by securing two sponsorships for the competition, Telkom and Spar who are already lifelong partners and supporters for the sport.
“A very huge impact that Spar and Telkom have injected into the World Cup because at the end of the day hosting such a huge event needs the injection of this kind and we are grateful as Netball South Africa, we are humbled by them. It gives us the hope that this World Cup will run the way we want it to run,” said NSA president Cecilia Molokwane.
The federation has also been on a quest to get the country hyped up about the tournament. Mascot Letsatsi has been going far and wide in the country making appearances at events to remind masses of the competition coming up.
Molokwane says the federation is hard at work to make sure that all is ready when the tournament kicks off on 28 July.
“It seems so unreal yet it really is. Whether we like it or not the World Cup is here and there is no turning back. We only need to put more hard work on both the team and the preparations. On a lighter note, there will be no sleeping now. We will do that after the World Cup is done,” said Molokwane.
The Quad Series also forms part of those preparations towards the World Cup. The Proteas assembled on Monday for a training camp in Stellenbosch ahead of the competition which is scheduled for 21-25 January. The team is boosted by the return of Karla Pretorius who last donned the green and gold in 2021 in Northern Ireland. The Proteas will be without Nicola Smith and Elmere van der Berg who are still out with injury.
“As a federation, we are extremely proud of the amount of hard work, commitment and dedication shown by the players especially last year. Every time the team took to court, you could see that they were showing up for one another and the country. I have complete confidence in the team and believe that we have chosen the best 15 for the current task. I am certain that they will deliver for the country,” said Molokwane.
The excitement from the City of Cape Town has also being visible as they have continued to unveil a number of murals. A total of four Netball World Cup 2023 Legacy Murals have been unveiled so far with three more to come. Proteas goalkeeper Phumza Maweni was honoured with the first of these murals. Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said these artworks are made to draw the community of the Western Cape to the sport as netball doesn’t get the attention it deserves.
“A lot of the other big sports get a lot of the attention but netball is actually the biggest world sport for women but it doesn’t get much attention. So, it’s to give some focus to netball, it’s to add some beautiful public art to our communities particularly some of the poorest communities in the city and it is to give some advertising and support for the World Cup. We think our preparations are up to speed, we are very comfortable. There will obviously be a lot of pressure in the final months but we believe we are ready and it is going to be a great World Cup. I think we will have the best Netball World Cup that has ever been held,” said Hill-Lewis.
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