Latest news with #DStvSchoolsNetballChallenge
IOL News
5 days ago
- Sport
- IOL News
Bongi Msomi backs South Africa to challenge Australia in coming netball series
The SPAR Proteas will travel to Australia in October to play a three-Test series against the current world champions and world's number one ranked Diamonds. Image: Netball South Africa Former SPAR Netball Proteas captain Bongi Msomi is backing the national team to make history by defeating Australia for the first time, when the sides meet in a three-Test series Down Under in October. Speaking at a coaching clinic for schoolchildren in Kokstad, KwaZulu-Natal, Msomi expressed her excitement about the team's growth and the opportunity to go toe-to-toe with the sport's most dominant force. 'If I think back, in the past you already knew what to expect in terms of physicality, in terms of their structure, the standard,' said Msomi, now a Puma ambassador and assistant coach of the Gauteng Fireballs in the Telkom Netball League. 'But I say this with pride: the group that we have, the talent we have within the group — we have all it takes to take people on and really put in some good performances.' Coach Bongi Msomi, the former Proteas netball skipper, puts the children from Shaya Moya and Thembalethu high schools through their paces in Kokstad on Monday, as they prepare for the DStv Schools Netball Challenge. Image: Supplied Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ The Proteas are winless in 46 previous encounters with the world's top-ranked side. Msomi herself was part of the team that came agonisingly close at the 2019 Netball World Cup in Liverpool, when South Africa lost 55-53 in a thrilling semi-final. 'That was probably one of the most exciting times,' she said. 'To be able to really push them to that level, considering their professional setup and the fact that we weren't, was really good.' South Africa's last series against the Diamonds came in 2023, also in Australia, where the Proteas were soundly beaten 67-52 and 77-50 in the first standalone Test series between the sides in 18 years. Before their return to Australia, the Proteas will face another stiff challenge in September, when they play a three-Test series against second-ranked New Zealand in what Msomi sees as the ideal barometer for a rebuilding squad. 'I think it will be two big Test series that can set the tone in terms of where we are. Coming from that we can really build based on facts,' said Msomi. 'You also want to play the best in the world to be the best. If you are a restructuring group you kind of have to play the top guns and I think we have a great chance.' The tours form part of the Proteas' preparations for next year's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the 2027 Netball World Cup in Sydney. 'It's probably the best thing that can happen because when you play one [top team], you set the standard and from that you can see if you can now take this standard to the next level,' Msomi added. 'You can never lose from getting such an opportunity — there's lots to gain. And in netball, you don't only win on the scoreboard. You win with your prep, with different combinations. "Maybe you won your first cap coming on court. So I'm really excited for them to start ticking off those wins.'
IOL News
7 days ago
- Sport
- IOL News
Star Proteas netball players inspire Kokstad youth for DStv Schools Netball Challenge
Coach Bongi Msomi, the former Proteas netball skipper, puts the children from Shaya Moya and Thembalethu high schools through their paces in Kokstad on Monday. Star Proteas netball duo Refiloe 'Fifi' Nketsa and Owethu 'Sammy' Ngubane teamed up with former skipper Bongi Msomi to give kids from two Kokstad schools a fighting chance in the coming DStv Schools Netball Challenge. The pupils from Shaya Moya Secondary and Thembalethu Secondary will represent KwaZulu-Natal at the national under-19 tournament at Hoerskool Dr EG Jansen in Johannesburg on July 26 and 27. They were inspired by the Puma ambassadors' stories of their rise to the top from similarly impoverished backgrounds. They were then taken through their paces in drills and other training exercises on a bitterly cold Monday morning in the small town in the shadow of Mount Currie, southern KZN. For Nketsa, in particular, the clinic represented a full-circle moment as she went to school at Shaya Moya after moving to Kokstad from nearby Matatiele. 'It's such a humbling experience,' said the centre and wing defence for the national team and Free State Crinums in the Telkom Netball League. 'You can just see how their faces light up when they hear a Fifi, Bongi and Sammy being mentioned. Just to see how much they look up to us is humbling and brings you down to earth. 'It actually reminds you that you're not doing this for yourself, you're performing for them to believe that they are capable of getting to the very same level we're at, and that it's not impossible thing. That it's okay and valid for them to dream as big or bigger than we have already because they are the ones to bring about change.
