Netball boss wants more game time for Proteas

With less than a year to the 2023 Netball World Cup, Netball South Africa boss Cecilia Molokwane is calling for more game and court time.

South Africa finished sixth at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham after losing to Uganda 54-48 in the fifth and sixth play-off earlier this month.

The Proteas won the World Cup Qualifying tournament at the University of Pretoria last week, beating Malawi 60-44 in the final, although they already qualify as competition hosts.

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They will be joined by Malawi, Uganda, and Zimbabwe as representatives from Africa at the global showpiece to be staged in Cape Town from 28 July to 6 August 2023.

Molokwane insists that SA has the best players to perform at the World Cup but there are struggles to organise test matches against the top-four ranked teams in the world, much to the frustration of Proteas coach Dorette Badenhorst.

œWe have players-we have the best of players. I think it™s time now that we think out of the box, that we see how we give more players opportunity for them to play, how we expose them to this kind of tournament cause you saw Elmere van der Berg, it was her first international and she actually carried us through at Birmingham.

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œSo when you give them more opportunity and give them more game time¦..what is important in netball is more court time and game time, once you have the two you know that the girls will perform, it doesn™t matter who we play against. œGame time and court time its important cause when you work as a team, you must work as collective, you must make sure that you understand each other, said Molokwane.

œRemember I said we cannot just expect them to go and perform when we don't give them the opportunity to play. So now the Diamond challenge whereby the Scotland has already confirmed and Malawi to be part, but we need other two countries to come and join us so that it can be at least a five-nation tournament. Uganda promised, Jamaica-it™s so much willing to come and play us.

By Charles Baloyi