South African schools began their tour to the United Kingdom on a high note. Both Paarl Gimnasium and Khanyolwethu Senior Secondary School won their openers in a series of friendly matches on their week-long tour.
Gim took to the court first and they comfortably beat Millfield High School 33-16 before Khanyolwethu put a nail in the coffin with a 29-26 scoreline in the second match of the day.
The 2026 DStv Schools Netball Challenge (DSNC) powered by Bestmed Medical Scheme champions are in Britain as part of their prize for winning the sixth edition of the competition. Gim were the winners of the Botho Stream while Khanyolwethu took gold in Ubuntu.
Gimnasium coach Juline van der Merwe said she was happy with how her side performed even though they haven’t played together since early August.
“It’s been a while since we played together, our season ended at the beginning of August. It was a mind shift going into this game. It’s really exciting, the girls appreciate the opportunity to play together again. I think the performance was more than what I was expecting. I thought they were going to feel fatigued but they actually adapted pretty quickly,” said the former Spar Proteas wing defence.
Khanyolwethu coach Dimpho Lephallo believes that his charges can do better even though they won.
“The performance was good but not to the level that we had expected it to be. I think the long drive and the short warm up time had an impact on our game. But overall, I am happy with the girls’ performance. I am hoping going into the next game they will have much more to give,” says Lephallo.
Both teams have three matches each left in the tour. They will take on Loughborough University next before they face Bromsgrove School and the England Under-18 side. Van der Merwe says winning their opening match has given her girls confidence for their next matches.
“It’s definitely a confidence boost. It was great to see the girls out there and enjoying it. That is my wish for them going forward, to really just enjoy and take up every moment,” she says.
While Lephallo hopes that his side will play their own game and not their opponents’.
“I just want them to be more confident than they were in the first game. What I want to see them do better are their passes. They had some sloppy passes. They were not composed and rushed without checking if it is safe to pass the ball. But I believe they will work on it,” says Lephallo.
Gim captain Anja Smit and Khanyolwethu’s Boholo Ramaola were named player of the match for their respective games.