The DSTV Schools Netball Challenge (DSNC) national finals got off to a blazing start on Friday.
Forty schools from around the country went head to head in the opening round of the coveted Under-19 competition.
Over 2 800 schools registered for this year’s competition, which starts at district level and progresses through to the nation finals.
However out of the scores that entered the competition at the start of the year only two will be crowned as the best schools in Under-19 netball in the country.
The nationals see all the schools in both the Botho and Ubuntu streams play against each other in the group stages before moving to their respective divisions on the second day of the tournament.
Teams such as Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool Pretoria, Shayamoya Secondary School, Hoërskool Menlopark, Hoërskool Framesby, Joe Slovo Engineering High School and Khombindlela Secondary School had a good day on the court on.
They will be hoping to achieve the same feats on the last day. The DSNC is a partnership between MultiChoice and SA Schools Netball (SASN) that offers a platform for players from all schools (urban and rural areas) to get to experience the sport on the same level.
Former Spar Proteas captain and DSNC ambassador believes the competition is a good hunting ground for future stars. Burta de Kock, a member of the World Netball Coaching Advisory Panel was one of the scouts that attended the opening day of the competition.
“I think the DSTV Schools Netball Challenge has been one of those that are quite exciting because you get to see young talent from schools. I know we speak a lot about universities feeding the national sides but it all starts here. It is great to see these kids coming here and compete. Every player out there deserves to be part of this tournament, it’s fantastic. It is great for players to be seen, in terms of scouting for the future. It is really a good platform,” she says.
Msomi says having former national players and coaches encourages the players to dig deeper and indicates that the sport is important at all levels.
“The more we look like we appreciate what they do, it gives them sense of positivity to want to continue playing the sport. The more we spend time to come support them, they will see that this sport is small and no level is small. Any level that you participate in sport is actually valuable,” she says.