New SA national netball coach Dorette Badenhorst and her assistant‚ Dumisani Chauke‚ have retained Bongi Msomi as the Proteas captain for their first assignment since taking charge after the World Cup.
Eight of the squad who did duty in Liverpool in July will play in the Africa Netball Cup in Cape Town from October 18 to 22‚ which Badenhorst plans to use as preparation ahead of the upcoming series against England next month.
Uganda‚ Zimbabwe‚ Zambia‚ Lesotho‚ Kenya‚ Tanzania and Malawi are the other teams in action at the Bellville Velodrome.
“It is never easy playing any of the African countries‚” Badenhorst said in a statement issued by Netball SA.
“All the four teams that competed at the … World Cup did very well‚ they finished in the top 10. I will never underestimate them. They are very physical and never easy to play against because of their height.”
SA ended fourth at the World Cup in England in July‚ with Malawi finishing sixth‚ Uganda seventh and Zimbabwe eighth.
“We will prepare very well‚” added Badenhorst. “The goal is to win this tournament and remain the best-ranked team on the continent.”
While Maryka Holtzhausen has retired‚ other stalwarts like Phumza‚ Maweni‚ Karla Pretorius and Erin Burger are being rested and are expected to be available for the England series‚ also at the velodrome from November 29 to December 3.
The Africa Cup squad is:
Bongiwe Msomi (captain)‚ Sigrid Burger‚ Khanyisa Chawane‚ Rome Dreyer‚ Precious Mthembu‚ Izette Griesel‚ Lenize Potgieter‚ Lefebre Rademan‚ Monique Reynecke‚ Renske Stoltz‚ Zanele Vimbela‚ Shadine van der Merwe.
