UFS-Kovsies head coach Burta de Kock will have the core of her 2014 championship winning side at her disposal for this year’s Varsity Netball tournament.
The Free State side start their campaign at home this year against NWU-Pukke in Round One and will again be strong contenders for the title.
“I am blessed to have almost the same team this year,” De Kock told varsitysportssa.com.
“Last year they were all babies, but they have grown up a little. I also like bringing my old players back to assist with coaching.”
Karla Mostert will continue as captain after representing South Africa at the Netball World Cup in August with Lauren-lee Christians assisting her as vice-captain.
De Kock will also have another two World Cup stars assisting her in the coaching setup as well.
“Maryka Holtzhausen, who captained South Africa, will be the team’s goal shooting analyst and Adele Niemand will be the defensive coach.
“Both played for us in Varsity Netball in 2013, but became too old after the rule change last year. As a coach I am so blessed to have these two players involved with the team,” De Kock added.
De Kock, who has been the Kovsies coach for the past 13 years now, is also the coach of the Free State Crinums side who won the Brutal Fruit Netball League earlier this year. Kovsies and the Crinums are almost identical in terms of playing personnel.
“It is basically the same players and the Crinums are based at the University of the Free State. We have the same group of people sharing their expertise with both teams.
“We started in January with a group of players and we have set ourselves goals throughout the year. A lot of our players got exposure in the Spar National Netball Championships recently and this week we picked our top 18 players to focus on Varsity Netball.
Despite being one of the favourites this year, De Kock has not got the title on her mind and instead just wants her players to focus on each game.
“The most important thing for us is to take each game as it comes. If we focus on the basics then the success will come, but we are not focussing on the title right now,” she said
