Historic firsts for Nomzamo and Menlopark as they are crowned DSNC champions

Nomzamo Secondary and Hoërskool Menlopark were crowned the new champions of the DStv Schools Netball Challenge (DSNC), powered by Bestmed Medical Scheme.

The Netball Challenge is a partnership between Multichoice and the SA Schools Netball (SASN), launched in 2021. The competition is a platform that provides young athletes, from both rural and urban areas, an equal opportunity to showcase their talent on the national stage.

The DSNC is divided into two streams, Botho and Ubuntu. The competition has also become a platform for national coaches and selectors to spot and observe talent.

The Cape Town school defeated three-time finalists, Lambalati Secondary School, 25-17, to win their first Netball Challenge title. Nomzamo made light work of Lambalati from the first quarter, taking advantage of the loose balls and mistakes that the Mpumalanga school kept mishandling.

Nomzamo captain Liyabona Mbalana says all their hard work has finally paid off.

“I am so happy, this is the first time ever that we have won first prize. Our first games were difficult because we played against Botho teams and they are stronger than we are.

"When we were losing, we thought we would struggle the whole tournament but when we got into our stream we played our hearts out. We reminded ourselves that we came here to win,” said Mbalana.

COACHING CLINICS FROM TOP PLAYERS

The school from Strand was one of the 10 schools that received coaching clinics from top players in the country in a partnership between the Netball Challenge and Puma. The Spar Proteas captain was in Stellenbosch to train both Nomzamo and Kayamandi Secondary Schools. Mbalana says those lessons came in handy in the national finals.

“The skills challenge and how to find spaces that she taught us really helped. She also told us that scouts come to the competition, we went all out and gave our all, hoping that some of us would be identified and scouted. We wanted to leave it all on the court,” she said.

Lambalati coach Sindile Metiso is hopeful they will come back better next year.

“It’s not that we are not good at all, it is just the mistakes that we make that get us here. We will go back to the drawing board and prepare for next year’s competition. We will come back hot,” said Metiso.

Menlo displayed guts and grit to come back a few points behind Paarl Gimnasium to beat them 22-21 in the last seconds of the game. Menlo captain Minette Boshoff says they are happy to finally win the competition after playing in three third-place matches.

“I don’t think we were the favourites coming into this tournament, but I am glad for my team. It was the last time that we played together. I think we did it for each other. We had a mindset change that we had to do this now or it is never going to happen,” said Boshoff.

North West’s Kgaphamadi Secondary School and the Western Cape’s La Rochelle both took bronze medals in the Ubuntu and Botho streams, respectively.

Bestmed’s PR and Sponsorship specialist, Karen Piernaar, believes they have made the right decision in partnering with Multichoice.

“The lead-up to the finals has been incredible. If you look at all the activations from the announcement to all the regional finals until here, it has been a wonderful vehicle for us as a brand awareness campaign. Perfect target market.

"It’s families that we want to pull towards our brand, but not just that. We are a partner that has partnered with a brand that has the same goals as we do.

"We want to see young kids succeed, especially these players. They are learning new skills. We are advocating that sport plays an important role in South Africa, especially in their lives.

"We are super happy to be a part of this partnership with Multichoice. We have enjoyed it so much. Hopefully, it is only the beginning of a very long and fruitful,” said Piernaar.