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FINALLY, the DStv Schools Netball Challenge provincial finals are upon us. Starting on 10 September, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Eastern Cape, and Western Cape schools will battle it out for the two top spots in each province to represent the respective provinces at the highest schools netball competition in the country.
So far the Northern Cape, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State already have their representatives for the national competition which will take place between 23-26 September.
Hoërskool Diamantveld and Wildeklawer represent the diamond province, Hoërskool Pietersburg, Hoërskool Ben Vorster, Hlabi Secondary School and ME Makgato Secondary School will represent Limpopo while KwaZulu Natal will have Edendale Technical High School and Ashton International College in its corner. Wilgerivier High School and Teto Secondary School from the Free State complete the determined teams for the final round.
Hoërskool Middelburg hosts the Mpumalanga provincial competition where six high schools from around the province will do battle for the honours while Hoërskool Dinamika and Edenvale High School will open the competition in the Gauteng leg at Hoërskool Dr E.G. Jansen Boksburg.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic had stalled most of the action of the Netball Challenge owing to the lockdown restrictions.
The tournament was launched in May with local inter-school leagues which progressed to regionals and now provincials before the big one, the national competition which will be broadcast on SuperSport.
The competition will unearth future Spar Proteas and the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town is a huge inspiration for the thousands of players who took to the court throughout this competition.
South African Schools Netball president, Di Woolley hopes that the ongoing pandemic will no longer be a hindrance in completing the competition.
“I am hoping this horrible thing called Covid stays out of our lives so we can continue with our programme as scheduled and planned because these children are looking forward to playing ad doing what they do best. I am just hoping and praying people stay safe, look after themselves so we can play and enjoy ourselves to the best of our abilities,” says Woolley.
“The children are not as fit as they should be or can be. So we are allowing a couple of players per team to come to the national championships so they can substitute and so on because these children are not very fit. And to get back into things will take so much effort and time. But I think our netball kids are up and running and want to do things the way it should be done,” adds Woolley.
Netball fans can catch the exciting action via streaming on the SuperSport Schools App from 9am.
* Supersport.com