Young SPAR Proteas looking for growth ahead of Youth World Cup
Published:Tuesday | January 14, 2025 | 12:22 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
IN A bid to get much-needed match practice ahead of the Netball Youth World Cup, scheduled to take place from September 19-28 in Gibraltar, South Africa’s under-21 team arrived in Jamaica on Saturday night, accompanying their senior team, who are gearing up for a three-match series against Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls at the National Indoor Sports Centre on January 18, 22, and 25.
The 2025 edition of the Netball Youth World Cup will be the first staging since 2017 following the hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The South Africans punched their ticket to the tournament in thrilling fashion back in 2024 after dispatching all comers, winning all six games played.
Precious Mthembu, head coach of the team, explained that playing against the young Sunshine Girls team will give her players and coaching staff a good insight as to where the team is, at the moment, leading up to the games later this year.
“The objective is to see how the Jamaica team plays and see how our girls match up against them. We want to see where our loopholes are, highlight our strengths and weaknesses and see what we can work on when we go back home before the Youth World Cup in Gibraltar,” she stated.
Mthembu added that the trip is to also give the girls a chance to get a feel of the rigours of playing against top-class competition which often includes long flights.
“We’ve had a lot of competitions and a lot of the girls are coming from the high-school level. This is about team-building and getting the girls to understand the standards of high performance. This is to also help them to understand the standards of World Cup so that they don’t go to Gibraltar and are travelling for the first time,” she added.
Captain of the team Phophi Nemantangari credited the netball federation in South Africa for their continued support of the team.
“We’re just continuing our journey ahead of the Youth World Cup, ticking the boxes and growing as a team. The whole South Africa has been giving us the opportunity to prepare for the World Cup and they’ve gone into the grassroots to pick players as well,” she noted.
Nemantagari added that these practice games will be a good test for both teams.
“I’m very excited as this opportunity is very good for us. It will be both teams battling each other to see what they need to grow on ahead of the World Cup.”