South Africa will maintain a respectable number of national team players in the overseas leagues in 2027. Over the last couple of years, a number of Spar Proteas players have been securing opportunities to ply their trades in leagues outside of the continent.
In 2024, a record nine South African players featured in the United Kingdom’s Netball Super League (NSL). However, the number has dipped for the 2027 season. Only six players managed to earn contracts in the NSL2.0.
Khanyisa Chawane, Kamogelo Maseko and Owethu Ngubane were unable to obtain contract extensions with their respective former teams. The Proteas captain had been with the LexisNexis Dragons for three seasons, having first joined the Wales-based side for the 2023 season.
Maseko, meanwhile, tasted just one season in the UK. She competed in 14 matches for London Pulse, including the major semifinal and the Grand Final against Manchester Thunder.
Proteas goal defence Sanmarie Visser spent only one season in the NSL, and she will be competing in the Suncorp Super Netball (SSN), where she had been a temporary replacement player in the 2025 season.
Tarle Mathe - Leeds Rhinos
The pint-sized midcourt player will experience her first season in a semi-professional league in the UK. Mathe started the year with exceptionally good performances in the colours of the Proteas, which defeated the England Roses 2-1 in a test match and earned the Best Mid-Court Player of the series. She continued her impressive form that saw the Gauteng Golden Fireball take home the silver medal in the Telkom Netball League. Her contribution in the various competitions was all the convincing that coach Lauren Palmer needed to rope Mathe in. The Durban-born player ended her season in South Africa with the University of Johannesburg’s first-ever Varsity Netball title.
Nicola Smith - Manchester Thunder
Smith will be competing in the yellow and black for a third season in 2027. She will be hoping for a clean bill of health in the new year, after she finished the season with an injury ahead of the league’s major semifinal against London Pulse. Her Most Improved Player and Players’ Player of the Season accolades at the end of the 2026 season are proof that she is an asset for the champions.
Ané Retief – Nottingham Forest
Retief secured her second stint with Forest in 2027. She played her first full season in the NSL2.0, and her side achieved a playoff spot this season as well as the minor semifinal.
Rolene Streutker – Nottingham Forest
Streutker registered 520 goals, including 109 super shots, in the 2026 season and helped her side get their first-ever top-four finish in the league. She will return to the club for her third season.
Shadine van der Merwe – Loughborough Lightning
Van der Merwe will only be competing in the Lightning colours next year after she retired from international netball. After Lightning got their hands on the Gentle Netball Super Cup crown, they will be looking to return to the top of the podium in 2027, as van der Merwe looks to win another NSL title.
Jamie Golob – London Mavericks
Golob will be returning to the Mavericks after a stellar debut season in the UK. At the end of the season, she was named Fans’ Player of the Year, Players’ Player of the Year and Coaches’ Player of the Year, a clear sign of her positive contribution to the club.
PROTEAS GOING DOWN UNDER
Sanmarie Visser - Adelaide Thunderbirds
Visser will be returning to Australia for a second stint. She first played for the Thunderbirds in the 2025 season, replacing Shamera Sterling-Humphrey following the pregnancy announcement of her first child. The South African defender was able to secure a contract in the UK’s NSL for the 2026 season, where she played in 12 matches and was named Players’ Player of the Year and Fans’ Player of the Year. Thunderbirds head coach Tania Obst believes Visser will bring versatility to the team.
Elmere van der Berg - Adelaide Thunderbirds
Van der Berg had an incredible first season Down Under, so much so that the Thunderbirds not only re-signed her, but she will be at the club for two more seasons. Her contract extension will run until 2028. Van der Berg claimed several Player of the Match accolades in the 2026 season, including being named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the semifinals as well as the Grand Final’s fan-voted MVP together with teammate Kate Heffernan. She also went into the Thunderbirds' history books as she broke a club record for most points in a game (59). Coach Obst commended the Protea’s growth in the league, describing it as phenomenal.