The SPAR Baby Proteas are gearing up to face the world’s top under-21 sides, departing on Tuesday night for London, where they’ll play a series of warm-up matches before heading to the 2025 Netball World Youth Cup in Gibraltar.
Three matches are lined up – against Netball Super League champions London Pulse, England A, and a mixed club side – providing valuable preparation for the global showpiece.
The Netball World Youth Cup, taking place from 19-28 September, will be the first since 2017 after the 2021 tournament was cancelled because of the Covid pandemic. That 2017 tournament, staged in Gaborone, saw South Africa finishing sixth. This time, after an eight-year wait, the SPAR Baby Proteas have set their sights much higher.
“We’re definitely aiming for better than the previous World Cup. We’re planning on going there and giving our best… we’re aiming for the podium. That’s the goal that we’re looking for,” said SPAR Baby Proteas captain Phophi Nematangari.
The team’s preparations have included playing in the 2024 SPAR National Championships as well as this year’s Telkom Netball League. They’ve also trained with the senior SPAR Proteas and, in January, completed a 3-0 series clean sweep against the Jamaican under-21 team in Kingston.
“We are very, very excited that it’s actually happening. It’s been a long journey waiting for this moment,” added Nematangari. “Now that it’s happening, I still can’t wrap my head around it, but the preparations have been exceptional. We’ve been putting in the work, the seeds have been planted, now we’re just waiting to reap.”
Acting president of Netball South Africa, Mami Diale, also expressed her excitement ahead of the team’s departure.
“Obviously there is expectation… it would be good if we could be top four at least, and it will be better if we can have a podium, but we are not putting pressure, we are encouraging them and we are supporting them towards that because we have to do it together,” she said.
Guiding the team on their journey is the formidable coaching combination of two former Proteas in Precious Mthembu and Phumza Maweni.
“I think from our side, as former players – Phumza and myself – it’s our role to make the players understand the magnitude and the skill and how great this challenge is for them,” explained head coach Mthembu, adding that the team have all responded incredibly well in stepping up to the task.
“We’re definitely ready. It’s our time now… we want to do well in our pool and I’m sure all the work that we’ve done will be rewarded in the end,” she added.
The South Africans have been drawn in Pool D along with Fiji, Malawi, Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago. They will play their first match against Barbados on 20 September before taking on Trinidad and Tobago on 22 September, Malawi on 23 September and Fiji on 24 September, before the playoff rounds begin a day later. The top two teams in each pool will progress to the quarterfinals.
Backing the team all the way are sponsors SPAR, whose PR, Communications & Sponsorships Manager, Mpudi Maubane explained: “We do this because we love what we’re doing, we love to see women progressing and actually elevating and taking their talent somewhere else, especially to showcase it to the world – to say, with South Africa, it is possible.
“From the SPAR Group, we are saying – young girls, go out there, from wherever you come from in our communities, it is possible when you believe in a particular dream, to see it coming to life in an international space.”
Speaking to the players, Maubane added: “You are going out there to have fun, to represent the country at large, but you must know that back at home, a young girl somewhere who is passionate about the sport of netball is looking up to you… So we are honoured as the SPAR Group to be one of the sponsors to be making this possible.”
World Netball have confirmed that fans around the globe will be able to watch every match of the NWYC2025 live and free on NetballPass and the Netball World Cup YouTube channel.
From 20-25 September, matches will be available on both NetballPass and YouTube. The final three days of competition, including the medal ceremony (26-28 September), will stream exclusively on NetballPass – still completely free to access.