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Though they had their unbeaten five-game winning streak unceremoniously snapped in the section C netball final of the University Sports South Africa (USSA) championships, the WSU netball team has managed to qualify for section B for next year’s competition.
Quite rightly, the WSU team went into the final showdown against the Free State’s Central University of Technology (CUT) in a buoyant mood following their 34 – 19 thrashing of local rivals, University of Fort Hare, in their fifth and penultimate game of the competition.
However, CUT would go on to outclass the WSU outfit in all facets of the game as they’d march to a 52 – 21 victory to secure top spot on the section C table, and thus, together with WSU, qualifying for section B.
“Barring the final, the team played very well throughout the tournament, especially considering the fact that we had very little time in which to prepare. The team hadn’t played together before because of the different players coming from different campuses,” said captain Sinawo Ndinisa.
Ndinisa, an honours student in psychology, said the team surpassed her expectations by reaching the final owing to the aforementioned challenges the team faced ahead of the tournament.
She attributed the heavy loss to CUT in the final to fatigue and inferior tactical and technical ability brought on by inadequate preparation.
“CUT were fitter, faster and had more stamina and better preparation and that’s why they outplayed us. The situation was not aided by our careless mistakes that eventually worked against us. In a final, you must be at the top of your game, and unfortunately for us, this was not the case,” said Ndinisa.
Head coach, Athonele Sogesi, expressed her excitement and encouragement following the team’s overall performance in the tournament.
She too heaped praise upon the team’s efforts and was greatly enthused by the talent WSU has at its disposal as it heads into the future.
“This was my first USSA tournament with the team as coach and all I can say is there’s lots of talent that needs to be cultivated, harnessed and produced within the university so that we improve and make WSU one of the premier university netball programmes,” said Sogesi.
She said in the minimal time the team had to prepare for the tournament, the team’s training regimen focused on fitness, getting the tactical and technical basics right, and solidifying the team’s mental fortitude in its pursuit of one day playing the premier university competition – Varsity Netball.
In a show of foresight, WSU fielded a second team, that would eventually finish 8th overall, comprising only of first-year students in a bid to groom and nurture players that will carry the baton forward once the current crop of players from the premier team leave the university.
WSU schedule of results
24 Sept: WSU 21 – CUT 52
23 Sept: WSU 34 – UFH 19
22 Sept: WSU 38 – 23 Venda
21 Sept: WSU 20 – 16 Limpopo
20 Sept: WSU 22 – 14 Sol Plaatije
- Thando Cezula
