For NWU-Pukke it was not a matter of how they started but how they finished, and being crowned the Varsity Netball champions is the cherry on top after a tough season.
Pukke coach Dorette Badenhorst said her team had a tough year sometimes with issues that were outside of the court. She said some of her players were focused on their academic responsibilities.
“It was not mainly a case of having a lot of new players to blend in a team but we had players from different teams coming together. We had a lot to overcome. We had a lot of other barriers that came from outside the court that we had to deal with,” she said.
Badenhorst said she was happy with how her charges displayed mental strength especially after they lost to Maties in their third round game. She said they were well prepared for the battle at hand.
“I am proud of my players because they showed character. Having played against Maties two times before we knew what to expect and we came with a good gameplan which we stuck to and we got the result. I told the players to forget about things off court, it was just another game.When the final whistle went, it was a dream come true,” said Badenhorst.
She added that it is important to have a schedule and plan when to rest the players before matches.
“You need to know when to rest players and use them. We had to manage players who had to manage their academic responsibilities. Some of my players were trying to get places to do their honours studies, we had to respect that. Their academics are the primary reason they are here,” she said.
She added that the tournament gave her and other youth team selectors a platform to choose players who will take part in the FISU World University Netball Championship and World Youth Netball Championships qualifiers.
“We selected some players during the USSA but we have also used Varsity Netball as another platform to get more players since we will have an eventful year next year. We will try sent the best players in these tournaments,” she said.
By Busisiwe Mokwena, Daily Sun sports reporter
