Our country is currently hosting the World Inaugural University Netball Champions in Cape Town, Goodhope Centre from 2 to 7 July 2012. These World Netball Championships are hosted under the custodianship of the University Sport South Africa (USSA) which is responsible for co-ordination and running of university sport in the Republic.
USSA is currently affiliated on the Zone VI Africa University Sport Platform under the African University Sport Federation (FAFU) and the International University Sport Federation (FISU). Our players in the South African National Netball Team are recruited from an intensive trail process that screen and appoint players of stature and quality to represent our university students’ sport in the world. These are augmented by Annual USSA tournaments for all university students for selection on the SA national teams of which netball is an integral part.
Netball in South Africa is played in most universities.However, it is dominantly played in Historically Advantaged Universities (HAU) as compared to Historically Disadvantaged Universities (HDU) because of lack of support from our sport fraternity and stakeholders. This calls to all involved in sport especially university sport including University Councils and Sport Councils in institutions of higher learning to contribute meaningfully in the development of university netball in the country.
Participation in student sport forms an integral part of an overall student development and one of USSA’s responsibility is to provide opportunities for competition at various levels. This tournament should therefore be utilised as an opportunity and a platform amongst us to enhance Women sport. As students are the emerging intellectual capital of any society, you are urged not only to focus on playing the sport, but to contribute towards the overall development and growth of those who aspire to one of the outstanding sport personalities in South Africa and the world.
As these games are the first of its kind to be hosted by Africa on an African soil; it is also the first in the world.Hence South Africa has received a great support from all SADC countries and their governments especially those from the ZONE VI chapter including Jamaica. It is important to make a special note of the contribution of Jamaica in making this dream a reality through their undivided support including the conduct of Netball Clinics in Cape Town. Jamaica as one of the top countries in Netball around the world volunteered to provide clinics and transfer skills to our youth in the surrounding disadvantaged areas of Cape Town in order to contribute in the grassroots development of netball.
As a result, when we addressed our National Netball Team on 19 June 2011 on the occasion of their send-off function towards their participation in the World Netball Championships in Singapore, we committed ourselves and the country to “galvanise support and mobilise society behind the efforts of our national sport teams to conquer the world and make South Africa proud again,” and again in the same occasion we as a nation we declared our delightedness and proud feeling that our young sportswomen are taking part in many championships and world tournaments across the globe, both at home and abroad. We reaffirmed our support and conviction that our national Netball teams are also adding value to this journey of global participation in sport by participating in many prestigious tournaments in and out of South Africa.We collectively agreed that this should stand as an inspiration to all national sports federations and sports people to emulate such an example.
Again on the occasion of the SRSA Budget Speech in Parliament on 11 May 2012, we pledged our support for development and nurturing of women sport in South Africa especially the development and nurturing of Netball in the Republic of South Africa.
To this end, we have met Netball South Africa to discuss the possibility of the launch of the first-ever South African Professional Netball League in our country. We have called on our nation to invest more in this beautiful sport of our women. We informed the nation that we are rolling out the first ever South African Netball league in our country.
In this process of engagement with Netball South Africa and other netball fanatics, we have learned that, notwithstanding the fact that, unlike other countries such as New Zealand and Australia that have professional netball leagues, South Africa with only a pool of 50 non-professional players continues to be very successful and currently rank 6th in the world. To remedy this situation and to ensure that we broaden the pool of netball players we will in cooperation with Netball SA host a quad-nation netball tournament, called the Netball Diamond Challenge which will include South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania and Malawi in August this year.
We are therefore delighted to open and host this prestigious World Netball University Championships in the shores of the Republic and recommit ourselves to put the sport of netball into higher and greater heights in our life time.
By doing this SRSA has put the development of both school and university sport high on the agenda of the developmental programmes and support.We have for this financial year committed to fund and support school sport as bedrock for sport development in our country.We will use school sport as a conveyor belt towards university sport and high performance.
To this end, we have allocated an amount of R525million towards our mass participation programme which makes 62% of the total budget with the focus of increasing participation in various sporting codes such as netball by supporting school sport, club development and hubs.We have together with the Treasury increased the school sport budget from R27.3 million in the previous year to R42.6 million with the emphasis on supporting the delivery of sport programmes to learners and to continue empowering educators in code specific coaching, technical officiating, team management and sport administration with the focus on the 16 priority sporting codes, including netball.
Hence School Sport programme as an incubator for university and professional sport has been identified as a priority area for delivery by our Department in 2012 – 2013 year. The aim is to ensure that all learners in South Africa are provided access to an organised and structured system of sport that offers opportunity for mass participation, talent support and high performance. The ultimate goal in increasing access to school sport is to increase our athlete base in the country, use it as a conveyor belt to university and high performance sport thus improving the talent pool in the country to improve South Africa’s performance internationally.
Therefore, without doubt, these championships epitomise one of the many globally recognised netball tournaments in South Africa and the world. It should harness talent in sport, and foster community development, social cohesion, economic integration and nationhood.
It represents a renewed tradition for netball in Africa; attracting the International stars of the future to South Africa, but, at the same time grooming future South African netball players and champions.They will assist in our efforts to shape a future South African netball player and champion. As South Africans, we expect this tournament to showcase the hidden sport and netball talent of all South African youngsters and allow them to participate meaningfully in a tournament of this magnitude.
We are impressed by the International character of the championships.Firstly, it exposes the South African youth to the standard of competition internationally. Secondly, it exposes other young people from other countries to the African and South African realities. Thirdly, it helps the international community to achieve its goals of building a sporting global community where women and girls are in the forefront of that global society.
With these words I would therefore like to take this opportunity to welcome all girls to our shores and hope that they will all enjoy our hospitality and humility.Welcome to the Republic of South Africa. Please play fair and fight against doping in sport.
We want to congratulate the South African University Netball Team for beating Ireland at the opening match. We want you to succeed when you clash with the world top teams like Jamaica and Great Britain in the coming games. May you come with those medals? They must remain in the South African shores.
We must acknowledge the FISU Executive for having considered our beautiful country to stage such an event understanding the role played by women sport, netball in particular as a nation builder from our poor communities to those that are more privileged. I would like to salute the men and women who have been working tirelessly for this tournament to be a success.
Thank you.
South Africa hosting the 1st Inaugural World University Netball Championships
