STEADILY IMPROVING MAKING UWC NETBALL A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH

BY LYNNE RIPPENAAR-MOSES

FOR TWO YEARS, the University of the Western Cape’s (UWC) netball team’s main focus was on playing together effectively. This approach is paying off as the team has steadily improved against some of South Africa’s top university netball teams.

GUIDED BY DANLEE MATHEWS, a former Western Province and Proteas player, UWC progressed to the Cape Town district finals of the Twizza Netball Club Championships in 2021, beating some of the district’s top super league netball teams. They lost 41–26 to Durbanville Netball Club in the finals.

COACH MATHEWS focused on the holistic development of the players. She said: “I can’t have players who only concentrate on one thing in their lives. Players’ background, their academics, as well as their mental wellness, have an impact on them. It can’t only be about netball because netball is not a long-term career.” At the time of the Twizza Championships, Courtleigh Behr was the captain of the team and Adri Kannemeyer was the vice-captain.

REFLECTING ON 2022, Kannemeyer says that it was one of UWC’s “biggest years in terms of team building”. Behr adds that improved team cohesion led to UWC “consistently performing against the stronger university teams”. During the University Sports South Africa (USSA) games in July, UWC decreased their game score margins against North-West University, Stellenbosch University and Nelson Mandela University (Madibaz). Although losing to the University of the Free State and the Madibaz team at Varsity Netball, they narrowed the losing margins in those games as well. “Of course, it was also important for us to be on the winning side,” says Behr, adding that they beat Tshwane University of Technology during that Varsity Netball tournament.

A LOT OF TIME WAS SPENT on the court focusing on the team’s playing style to measure their progress against previous milestones rather than comparing how they had fared against rival teams. Numerous hours were also spent on improving defence. “You can’t win a game if you can’t turn more balls within the game to gain points. We also worked on keeping calm when attacking and the shooters getting their shots through the hoop,” Behr says.

THIS STRATEGY PROVED TO BE A CHALLENGE initially as it required a “change in mindset” and team members had to reflect on their mistakes as individuals and as a team. “Once we started looking at what we as a team did wrong and how we can fix that, we immediately started to counter little technical aspects in the other team’s game without us even realising that.” The team has also been working on improving their fitness and making mental health a priority.

“We want to win and there is a willingness to work hard, push ourselves and do it together. When we started focusing on mental health, we spent more time listening to what our teammates were struggling with and started checking in to find out if everyone was okay. This made our relationship much stronger, which influences what happens on the court,” says Kannemeyer.

The team is attracting more interest among high school netball players.

We want to win and there is a willingness to work hard, push ourselves and do it together.

“We now have quality high school players who want to come to UWC, which means our pool of players is growing,” says Kannemeyer.

2023 IS GOING TO BE an even busier year for UWC’s netball players. But even with their time-demanding training and playing schedule, both Behr and Kannemeyer want to see the UWC team back in the USSA Super League, players competing in the Telkom Netball League and at least reaching the semi-finals of Varsity Netball. Cape Town is also hosting the Vitality Netball World Cup this year.

The coaching team has been strengthened by the appointment of Proteas goalkeeper Phumza Maweni and new team coach Vanessa Lingeveldt, a former Western Province and Proteas netball player. Lingeveldt is addressing two issues that the netball team still seems to struggle with – “the team dynamics and culture within the team”.

LINGEVELDT SAYS: “We all come with our own skills, talent, understanding and assigned tasks, but we do not know each other. We must understand the part that each one is going to play if we want to clarify our team culture and norms.”

KANNEMEYER ADDS CONFIDENTLY: “I think you are going to see a movement of UWC, from being considered the underdogs in netball to becoming a force to be reckoned with.”