Jenny van Dyk says veteran Karla Pretorius will have to fight her way back into the Spar Proteas squad when she decides to return to the playing courts.
The 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup Player of the Tournament last donned the green and gold in 2024 during the Africa Netball Cup in Namibia.
She missed the Margaret Beckford Sunshine Series and the Vitality Netball Nations Cup tournaments early in the year which were held in Jamaica and England respectively, with the Proteas vice-captain taking the year off from netball due to family commitments.
She will also not be part of the Free State Crinums side that will be looking to defend its Telkom Netball League (TNL) title.
Van Dyk has explicitly cleared the speculation that the goal defender has hung up her bib, saying Pretorius will still be part of the team even though she will not be playing.
“Karla has not retired from international netball. She is just taking a little bit of a family responsibility break. She actually wants to play (in) another World Cup. The thing is, when do you rest? When do you take a break? She has been good for us over the years. We have seen players that have taken mini breaks and have come back all vibrant and full of energy. Ready to hit the game. She knows that she will have to work for her position back into the team.
“We have had that conversation, she is happy with it. That is what she wants. She doesn’t want to just walk back into the team. She has been valuable to us and she is such an important player. She will remain part of the Proteas, she wants to assist as much as possible. She loves what we are busy doing at the moment. It is not something negative, it is just giving her a little bit of a break to spend some family time and get her energy back. Hopefully, we will see her in time for the World Cup,” says van Dyk.
PLAYERS BEING MONITORED
The former Gauteng Jaguars coach says the upcoming TNL, the ongoing Netball Super League and the Suncorp Super Netball League will be used to monitor the national team players.
“We are monitoring all our players. A lot of them are playing overseas and many of them are doing really well. I like the amount of Super Shots that Elmeré (van der Berg) and Rolene (Streutker) are sinking in at the moment. But for us it is about consistency, it’s not about one good performance but really giving the best performance in the team you’re playing in. You need to stand out above the rest,” she says.
The former Baby Proteas coach believes that a professional league will help strengthen and build a more competitive national team.
“This brings me back to our own professional league that we need to get off the ground. I trust that the president (Cecilia Molokwane) is busy with that and that it will happen soon enough. I think it is important to give opportunities for our players to compete at that level,” she says.
HAPPY WITH PROTEAS' PROGRESS
The 2025/26 Proteas squad is yet to be finalised.
Van Dyk says the coaching staff together with the national selectors have only concluded 10 contracts of 15 Proteas for the season.
Although van Dyk could not confirm when the final squad would be confirmed, it is likely it will be ready before the tour to New Zealand in September.
“We are not under pressure to do it immediately. We know who the players are and even if you are a contracted player it doesn’t mean you will have it easy. We have put more pressure on the contracted players in the spots that have already been identified. There are five opportunities and let’s hope they use them. They need to show us they deserve the positions,” she explains.
Van Dyk says she’s happy with the progress of the team following the Sunshine Series and the Nations Cup.
She, however, does admit that some areas need to be improved on.
“Overall, there were moments of brilliance, it’s getting the consistency in those performances that is important to us. I am happy with the accelerated rate of learning that the players had during all the different camps and tours. We spent so much time understanding all the different styles of the teams we played against. I think they got a really good idea of what that is all about. We have written two lists of things we need to improve on, more specifically skills wise.
“Everybody has bought into the process but I think what makes me the happiest is when we sit together and evaluate ourselves, this team knows that they can go all the way. They are starting to believe in themselves in a way that they had not yet (before), especially for some of the young ones,” she says.