Chauke embraces new role as director of coaches

Dumisani Chauke says she would like her tenure as the new Director of Coaches will inspire younger coaches.

The former SPAR Proteas assistant coach is part of Netball South Africa’s (NSA) new executive committee that was elected in October, taking over from Annelie Lucas.

Chauke says she hopes that young coaches will not restrict themselves from dreaming big, but should also realise the kind of impact they have in society.

“I would like to see a lot more young coaches getting higher coaching qualifications. Not just to tick a box, but to prove that they understand the role they play as coaches in society. It is not just on the sports field, it is understanding that it is a responsibility to become a coach, a responsibility that comes with accountability,” said Chauke.

The 39-year-old who served as chairperson of University Sport South Africa Netball for three years will be putting her focus fully on her new position at NSA. Chauke says it would have been futile to hold on to a lot of different positions when she wouldn’t be able to contribute meaningfully.

“I stepped down because I didn’t want to fill my plate with too many titles and not add any value. I went into USSA for three years. I was fully in. We grew the sport, and we introduced males (championships).

GROWING IN NUMBERS

"We grew the numbers, and it has become uncontrollable with the number of teams at the capacity that we are as universities. It was a good headache to have. It was a challenge for me, and I felt I can’t be the president of USSA and be sitting in the NSA executive.

At some point, there would be a conflict of interest, and No 2, holding on to positions where I am thinly spread doesn’t do anything for the sport or for me because my health might also suffer. I think for the past three years I have shown younger leaders that we don’t have to always have to wait for someone to do it for us, we can do it ourselves,” she explained.

She says she’s pleased with the work the organisation has been able to achieve so far.

“I am happy about the progress we have made at USSA Netball, but I couldn’t hold on to that position just for the sake of it. I need to be fully immersed in this new responsibility, which is going to be quite challenging.

I think university sport prepared me to be the person that I am today. University sport plays a huge role in moulding young leaders and I think I am a good product of university sport,” she said.

GOOD RELATIONSHIPS

Chauke emphasises the importance of good relationships between USSA and federations or organisations in the country. A bulk of athletes who represent South Africa at various international competitions are university students. She says federations like NSA can benefit from what universities contribute to sports.

“One thing we can’t take away from universities is that we have capacity. We have human capacity, we have facilities. High performance centres in South Africa are at universities, so it is time for university sport and federations to sit around the same table and say, ‘how do we grow sport in South Africa?’

You can have the best players, but if they are not part of a university set up they will not have high performance system support. There is a critical relationship that needs to be nurtured between federations and university sport. Not having people thinking that we are competing, we rely on the same players and coaches,” explained the Tshwane University of Technology HOD of sport.

MEN’S NETBALL WORLD CUP

During her tenure as chairperson, USSA moved to launch the men’s competition of the USSA Netball Championships. Tshwane University of Technology were the inaugural winners, with the University of Johannesburg joining the winners' circle after coming out victorious in the finals this year.

As the first Men’s Netball World Cup looms, Chauke is happy that the organisation decided to introduce the men’s competition.

“There was a bit of foresight to get the boys playing netball. We jumped the gun, but it was a good gun to jump. Now we are seeing more universities bringing male teams.

"When we started in 2024, we only had a few teams, and this year in PE, we had over 20. It was massive, and with the World Cup coming a lot of people will want to get into high performance teams knowing they will have the necessary support. It is up to us as coaches to encourage them,” she said.