Spar baby Proteas compete on the global stage

NETBALL NEWS - The Spar Baby Proteas are looking forward to test their skills against the best in the world at the 2025 Netball World Youth Cup in Gibraltar that starts this weekend.

The last time the junior World Cup took place was eight years ago in Botswana when South Africa ended in sixth position.

The last event scheduled for Fiji was called off due to Covid.

Coach Precious Mthembu and her 12-player team, including three reserves, left South Africa on 10 September and made a pit stop in London for two practice matches against Hertfordshire University and Under 21 England.

Mthembu emphasises the importance of these matches as it gave her a good understanding of where her charges are and what they need to work on ahead of the competition.

“For us it was particularly important that we play these practice matches because you get to play different teams, try different combinations and styles. As coaching team with Phumza (Maweni), this gave us a clear indication of what we need to focus on, what we are doing right and so forth.

"I am proud of my players because they really showed that they can step up and play competitively. The players were also surprised themselves because they realised that they could punch above their own weight,” Mthembu says.

She says the team has settled well in Gibraltar and put in a few training sessions ahead of their opening match on Saturday against Barbados. Mthembu has confirmed that she would still like to get a few practice games under her belt before then with the Cook Island match scheduled for Thursday 18 September.

South Africa is in pool D with Fiji, Barbados, Malawi and Trinidad &Tobago.