New Spar Proteas skipper calls for pro netball league in South Africa

NETBALL South Africa will be led by stalwart and new captain Khanyisa Chawane as they embark on a journey towards World Cup glory in Sydney, Australia in 2027.

Under the guidance of recently appointed coaches Jenny van Dyk and Zanele Mdodana, the Spar Proteas have set their sights on improving on their sixth place finish in their home World Cup which was won by Australia in Cape Town last year.

South Africa have been among the top five ranked sides in the world, but they are yet to win a world title, having lost against Australia in the 1995 final. They played a few semi-finals along the way and finished third in Perth at the1967 World Netball Championships.

The Spar Proteas have seen a series of retirements in recent times, including that of former captain Bongi Msomi, but they will have a good mix of youth and experience after the announcement of the new squad, under new management a few months back.

The 28-year-old Chawane takes over from Msomi having also had a fair share of international team exposure, and Proteas caps that are nearing a century, and she is excited to have this opportunity.

“It is an honour and privilege to be given such a responsibility,” she said.

“It means a lot for me to be trusted with such a position. I am surrounded with so many leaders within the team and those that have left the team, and it’s always just great to be a team with so much potential to do well.”

The Tzaneen-born player feels strongly about inclusion of every player in the team to create a positive environment, and she wants her team to be more than just competitive.

“The environment of the team is very important, making sure that you are in a place where everyone feels included, and making sure that everyone is happy and in a good space to perform,” she said.

“In most occasions at the World Cup we came so close to a semi-final but we weren’t able to finish it, and in 2023 we didn’t even reach the last four. I think it plays a big role to ensure the players around the team are happy and ready to perform, and they have the desire to want to win.

“So it’s really important to make sure we go out there to make a mark and not only that, but also being competitive and finishing off with a medal win.”

Chawane will represent the Cardiff Dragons in the 2024 Netball Super League season, and she believes South African netball is not far behind the top-ranked teams. The missing ingredient, according to her, is the need to prioritise having an arena dedicated to the national team, and also turning netball in South Africa into a professional sport to attract more quality players.

“I do not think we are far behind the top-ranked teams and their players. The majority of the players that are in the national team are playing overseas and they are getting the necessary experience and intensity we need to play at,” said Chawane.

“The only thing putting us behind is we don’t have our own arena that we can call our home, and we can access whenever we want to or when we need to prepare and train. We are always moving around different provinces.

“We also need to try and make our league professional, so that everyone that is overseas can have an opportunity to return home and play here and enhance our own league and our style of netball so that we can be able to compete with the powerhouse nations.”