With the curtain closing on the 12th Absa Wildeklawer Sports Tournament, Proteas Netball Assistant Coach, Dumisani Chauke, reflects on the overall event, and the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the overall standard of play, and what tournaments like this mean to netball in South Africa.
One of the key purposes of Chauke being at the event was to start identifying and looking for players that Netball South Africa can watch and nurture over the next three years in preparation for the 2025 Netball World Youth Cup.
“Many of the under U16’s and U18’s competing in the 2022 Absa Wildeklawer will form the nucleus of the 2025 team,” said Chauke.
Of equal importance was seeing the scouts and universities at the tournament looking to offer bursaries to the top performers to build their own teams. “To create a world-class netball player, we must ensure they are the best physically and mentally, and we want them to be placed at the strategic universities and colleges where we know that their coaching will be of the finest quality,” said Chauke.
Chauke also weighed in on the 2025 Netball World Youth Cup being canceled due to the pandemic. “Prior to the pandemic, New Zealand and Australia have dominated the tournament. Both countries have taken the title four times each in the past eight encounters. Our plan is to change the status quo! South Africa’s time is coming.”
However, Dumisani believes that a lot of hard work needs to be done here at home in order to beat the global leaders. “A lot of background work needs to be done to build a squad that can perform against the likes of Australia and New Zealand. This starts with the talent on offer, how this talent is nurtured, i.e., we need the best coaches, and we also need to ensure that their physical and mental health is taken care of. The pandemic has allowed us to ensure such structures are put in place, so our preparations are well underway. We need tournaments such as the Absa Wildeklawer to give us the opportunity to see the talent we have on offer in South Africa.”
Commenting on the Absa Wildeklawer talent this year, Dumisani said, “It was quite exciting to see how talented the U18s are. They are all the right age to play in the qualifiers as well as the Netball World Youth Cup in 2025, I was impressed with the condition of the players. I watched the tournament from the eyes of a coach that is currently part of a university and the Spar Proteas women. When one considers the fact that Covid-19 was present for two years, preventing high-quality training and competitive playing, I was more than excited to see what the Absa Wildeklawer tournament had to offer. I truly believe that we are on the way to fulfilling our dream, which is to be the best in the Southern Hemisphere”
Paarl Girls High School beat Afrikaanse Hoer Meisieskool Pretoria in the U18 tournament and Afrikaanse Hoer Meisieskool Pretoria beat Helpmekaar Kollege in the U16 tournament.
Chauke got to watch 346 girls from 24 of South Africa’s top netball schools play in 84 matches over 3 days, giving her the opportunity to have a good look at all the girls and see how they performed under pressure. She also got to speak and guide a lot of the coaches about their players and their players’ abilities.
“I cannot thank Absa enough for sponsoring the Absa Wildeklawer Sports Tournament. We desperately need corporates to come to the aid of our sporting codes to help us get back up to speed after two very difficult years. Netball is alive and well and we are looking forward to an exciting future,” concluded Chauke.
Spar Proteas Assistant Coach Dumisani Chauke eyes potential players for the Netball World Youth Cup https://t.co/1d0P6Tn95L #ArriveAlive #NetballWorldYouthCup @Absa pic.twitter.com/diGpci1knf
— Arrive Alive (@_ArriveAlive) May 4, 2022