Joburg’s title defence with a new look

Dr. Elsje Jordaan says her side will be going into the Spar Senior National Championship looking to defend their title but to rebuild the team with youngsters. Johannesburg A are looking to record a fourth title in a row after successfully defending the title in the last three years. The annual competition will see 119 districts compete in the senior and Under-21 sections this year.

Jordaan’s side will be going into the tournament that will be running from 30 November to 6 December without five of their starting seven players. The competition will be held at the Hoërskool Dr EG Jansen in Boksburg.

She has lost Tarle Mathe and Owethu Ngubane to the Spar Proteas who will be heading to Malawi for the Africa Netball Cup set for 8 to 14 December. Cornelia Mupeda will also be in Lilongwe for her national team, Namibia, at the continental competition. While Jeanté Strydom and Luane Smith are out on injury. Jordaan says although her team has changed, they are excited about the challenge ahead.

“It is quite a massive implication for us. We have lost two players to the Proteas setup and Cornelia to the Namibia setup, that is three international players gone. We have very serious injuries to two of our top players which brings down five of our starting line-up which is massive. It’s almost a new team that we are looking at. Further to that JNA (Johannesburg Netball Association) has a rule that the senior A team is only allow to select two Under-21 players which weakened us even more. It’s going to be challenging for us but we are still looking forward (to the tournament). We still have a good team, and we are excited to see how we can deliver,” said Jordaan.

She says they welcome the pressure that comes with being the defending champions however they are not looking far ahead into the competition as they are building with a younger squad.

“Preparations haven’t been ideal. We have had a couple of injuries and with the rain we couldn’t train as often as we liked as we do not have access to an indoor facility. This year we have a lot of young players in the fold and we will see how it goes. We have won the competition three years in a row, we are very aware that the pressure is on. But that is something that we have worked hard for, to get this type of pressure and respect. We still have a lot of experience but our defence is really young. At the same time that excites me a lot because it’s an opportunity for the new players. It is important for the growth of the programme to keep integrating new players to the A section,” she said.

Joburg’s Under-21 side will also be going into the competition as the defending champions. Jordaan says the district has a strong side and believes that they will perform well again this year.

“Our Under-21s did really great. They are a very strong team. It is really disappointing to see that the Under-21 section is not that strong. Two of the major districts that we are used to as powerhouses, Mangaung and Winelands, don’t have Under-21 teams. It’s sad because we wait the whole year to play the National Championship and you want your youngsters to also be tested and challenged to the fullest. But the JNA Under-21 is really strong, I am sure they will do really well,” she said.

The two-time Telkom Netball League winning coach says the stability brought by the recently held Netball SA elections is a welcome relief for the sport. The Gauteng Jaguars coach says she hopes the new executive will be able to take the sport to great heights.

“I am really pleased that it seems like the leadership of Netball South Africa has settled. There is a lot of reputational recovery that netball needs to do. I think the new leadership will allow that. For us as players and coaches on the ground we feel the heavy load when there is so much turmoil in the leadership.

We have always supported the leadership structures. We will again do so, support the new leadership. Netball is such an exciting game, there are a lot of girls playing it and we all have a responsibility to keep the integrity of the game in place. I think it is now up to the leadership to steer the ship. They did well while steering through the rough water. Now it’s about taking the game even further than what it has grown over the last few years,” she said.