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p46 :: Sport
Grassroots development cont from p45
Thuli Qegu shoots at goal during the Spar Proteas
squad camp held in Potchefstroom to prepare for the
Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July.
Photo: Mario van de Wall.
fer the thousands of girls who play netball at
school a goal — and possible career option —
after they no longer play in the school leagues.
There were approximately 1.95-m adult and
junior netball players in South Africa in 2012,
according to research company Accelerate’s
Gary Grant.
By far most netball players are black, reports
Grant: 1.5-m black women, or 77% of the total,
and 222 200 white women play netball.
But netball is the #1 participation sport among
women of all races, according to statistics
from a 2007 BMI survey quoted in the SRSA’s
A Case for Sport and Recreation publication.
Netball is the third most popular sport among
all school children — following soccer and athletics
— and above rugby and cricket.
In order to improve the level of play, Netball
SA last year held workshops for grassroots
coaches in every province and staged national
tournaments to identify potential future Protea
players.
In order to develop the sport, it is a priority
for the association to attract more partners
who would invest in netball, says Netball SA
president Mimi Mthethwa. “A lot of companies
are beginning to show interest in netball,” she
says. “This brings hope that we would soon
have adequate partners.”
In addition to Spar as named sponsor, Asics
was announced as the new apparel sponsor of
the SPAR Proteas and the U21 side in March
this year. Last year ball supplier Mitre announced
a R2.5-m sponsorship of Netball SA
for the next seven years.
Attracting sponsors
SA Schools Netball (SASN) is sponsored by Mitre,
Xco Sport and NuPay. Their objective is
to encourage mass participation in netball at
school level by assisting with coaching and
participation in leagues at school, district, regional,
provincial and national levels.
Since last year, regular live broadcasts of
the matches played by the national side, Spar
Proteas, have generated more interest in the
sport, especially since the national team have
been performing well.
The Proteas last year won the Africa Championships
in Malawi, beat world #3 England
to win the Tri-Nations in Port Elizabeth, and
the SPAR Baby Proteas came 5th at the World
Youth Netball Championships in Glasgow. They
are therefore confident that they could win a
medal at the Commonwealth Games in Scotland.
According to Mthethwa the top four countries
in the world have shown increased interest
in playing against the Proteas as they
realize that the country is an To p48