UCT head coach Sue Schooling says that she is happy that her team is considered as one of the underdogs in this year’s Varsity Netball tournament.
The Cape side battled in the previous two Varsity Netball tournaments. In 2013 they finished bottom of the standings after going through the tournament without a win. In 2014 when they finished seventh after bagging one win against VUT.
“We are going to be underdogs for this tournament and I believe it is quite a nice position to be in heading into a tournament,” Schooling told varsitysportssa.com.
“We have an exciting young team here at UCT and there is so much talent to grow this team for the future.”
Schooling, who is also the Western Province senior netball coach, said she also had to do some rebuilding after a side’s performance at the USSA netball tournament earlier this year where they finished ninth overall.
“We had to take stock after our performances at USSA. We lost one or two of our games narrowly in that tournament and we have to improve that.
“We have been rebuilding since that event and we currently only have one or two injuries to deal with before the start of Varsity Netball,” she added.
UCT will have four players from the 2014 tournament at their disposal this year and their experience will valuable in a fairly young squad. However, Schooling believes the youngsters also have to take some of the responsibility during the games.
She also said that none of her players have played in major provincial tournaments this year.
“We did not have any representation in tournaments like the Brutal Fruit Netball Premier league and this was such a pity because I think the experience would have helped them.
“We got a very young team and we will be coming up against some quality players. It will be an interesting experience for some of our players in this tournament,” said Schooling.
UCT will kick-off their campaign with a tough fixture against USSA champions UP-Tuks in Stellenbosch in Round One.
