The captain of the Kovsies, Tanya Mostert, hopes their loyal home supporters will carry them and serve as an additional player when they square off with UP-Tuks on Monday.
The Kovsies always enjoy good home support when they play in the Callie Human Centre on the Kovsie campus. And they will need every bit of assistance they can get, because the match, starting at 16:30, will be one of their toughest.
“Yes the crowd plays a big role at our home matches. Tuks will be a tough opponent, but we have worked hard and I have a lot of faith in my players,” said Mostert.
At the Ussa tournament at the beginning of July, Kovsies came within one goal of beating Tuks (the eventual champions), but that was a Tuks team without Shadine van der Merwe and Melissa Kotze who are both Proteas players.
The Kovsies, winners of the first two titles in 2013 and 2014, will be without the services of Karla Mostert, Lauren-Lee Christians, Danelle Willemse, Dénielle van der Merwe, Ané Botha, Dakalo Tshikala and Maryke Coetzee who all helped to guide them to a third place in last year’s competition. Tanya Mostert at 22 years of age is now the oldest team member.
“It is going to be a challenging competition for us this time,” Tanya said. “But this will give the younger players an opportunity to step up and make a name for themselves. I’m excited to see them perform.
“The Ussa tournament was a good learning experience for us and we got to know one another quite well on the court.”
According to Mostert, she learned a lot from her older sister Karla about leadership, having played under her captaincy in 2014 and 2015. Karla is now the vice-captain of the Proteas.
“The two main things I learned from her are to be calm on court and to get the team together as a unit.”
Tanya captained the Kovsies to a third place at the Ussa tournament and previous also led the Free State under-21’s.
Previous meetings between Kovsies and Tuks in Varsity Netball:
2013: Kovsies 53, Tuks 46; 2014: Tuks 54, Kovsies 48; Kovsies 49, Tuks 42 (final); Kovsies 55, Tuks 41.
Last five meetings (all competitions):
2016: Tuks 49, Kovsies 48; 2015: Kovsies 55, Tuks 41; Tuks 48, Kovsies 39; Kovsies 45, Tuks 40; 2014: Kovsies 49, Tuks 42.
Kovsies host Tuks at the Callie Human Centre on 5 September at 16:30.
Kovsies team: Gertriana Retief, Rieze Straeuli, Danelle Lochner, Lefébre Rademan, Khanyisa Chawane, Mariska Pieters, Tanya Mostert, Khomotso Mamburu, Alicia Puren, Rykie Venter, Frances Hurling, Deidre Fourie.
