Maties have yet to win Varsity Netball but a trio of players hatched a plan to change that in 2019.
In the six previous seasons of Varsity Netball, Maties have been there and thereabout with breaking the hegemony of Kovsies, NWU and Tuks, who have shared the titles between them. The Maroon Machine came close in 2015, when they reached the final, but NWU came to the Coetzenburg Sports Centre and promptly beat them 50-37.
Maties, powered by #KhoJoSha, pushed NWU close at the USSA National Championships in July 2019 to prove that they’ll be a force to reckon with from 26 August to 7 October.
#KhoJoSha, which has been ‘trending’ on Instagram and Twitter, is a moniker Khomotso Mamburu, Jo Prins and Sasha-Lee Petersen have created for themselves since coming together at the start of the year.
“We were at different universities, our friend Khomotso at Free State University and Sasha and myself at Stellenbosch but we convinced Khomotso to join us,” Prins revealed in an interview involving all three on Good Hope FM.
“We basically poached her, and when she decided we were like this is going to the holy trinity of netball… and we need to get a name,” the 23-year-old B.Ed student jokingly added.
Mamburu spent five years playing for the Kovsies team, book-ended by her helping them to two of their three Varsity Netball titles in 2014 and last year but also winning the 2017 Player of the Tournament award. The 24-year-old is doing her Masters in Intellectual Property Law when not ‘trending’ or on court trying to take Maties netball to the next level.
“Definitely, we’re taking it [Varsity Netball] this year,” Petersen (23) said confidently when asked whether the Mampuru’s acquisition will prove the difference between their third-place finish in 2018 and this year.
Mamburu, herself, claimed that she’s loving her time in Stellenbosch, even with the expectations placed on her ahead of Varsity Netball 2019 and the banter which is sure to fly ahead of the season-ending clash on 23 September when Maties travel to her old stomping ground to face Kovsies.
“To be honest, if it was not for #KhoJoSha I don’t think I would have settled as well as I did in Stellenbosch. It made my move extremely easy and it’s the best decision of my life,” Mamburu said.
Prins, who last played in the 2016 tournament, gave further insight into how the trio – who’ve all been in amongst the national squads in recent years – intend to help Maties netball.
“What’s important for our friendship is that we try to elevate each other and really push each other to be the best versions of ourselves so we’re looking forward to this journey and this is not the end for us,” Prins said.
Besides the off-court dynamic, #KhoJoSha are the fulcrum of Maties’ back court as Prins plays centre, while Petersen and Mamburu are both comfortable alternating between wing defence and goal defence.
“When this unit go back there, no ball is coming past us,” Mamburu concluded.
Maties squad: Janneke Baard, Stephanie Brandt, Bronwyn de Lange, Claudia Jarrard, Nerine Koopman, Khomotso Mamburu, Alison Malgas, Chrisley Marshall, Sian Moore, Sasha-Lee Petersen, Jo Prins, Nicola Smith, Caleigh Stuart, Nichole Taljaard (captain), Adri Uys, Carla Werth
Maties start their 2019 campaign against NWU on Monday, 26 August 2019. Tickets for the clash at Coetzenburg Sports Centre can be bought for just R10 using the Varsity Sports App, available on iOS devices and for Android users.
by Carlo Jonkerman
