With Varsity Netball on a little break, some of its players are scattered around the world with the World University Netball Championship in Uganda and the Protea players taking part in the Quad Series in New Zealand and Australia. UP-Tuks’s Ine-Mari Venter is one of the players participating in the Quad Series. In just a few short years, the tall shooter has made an impressive impact for her university and country, and she was nice enough to fit us into her busy schedule while away in New Zealand. Here is what she had to say.
Your personal performances have been getting better and better with every year, what would you attribute your success to?
Well, since my first training camp, I realised the standard of netball outside of South Africa and I think since Norma started to coach the Proteas all coaches in South Africa have lifted their standard for the game, especially coach Jenny at the University of Pretoria, which has helped bettering my game with every match to meet the standard.
What are your thoughts on the Quad Series?
I am very excited for the Quad Series. We have a few new players in the team and we are a team that is motivated to do better with every training session.
Your feelings on testing your skills against the world’s best netballing countries?
It is always a privilege to be working alongside the world’s best and to play against the world’s best. It makes you realise very quickly what you are capable of and what you as player still needs to work on. And I am looking forward to see whether or not my skills have improved since the Commonwealth Games in April.
Highlight of your Protea career so far?
Definitely the Commonwealth Games where I made my debut against Jamaica. A player’s debut will always be special.
In what aspects of your game do you think Varsity Netball has helped to develop, for you to be able to represent your country at the highest level?
At the University of Pretoria we strive to be the best, and each player in the squad works extremely hard for that to be possible and other universities always bring their best game against us. And both the first and latter helps you to develop the skills physically and mentally in order to enable myself and other players to perform at the highest level. It also builds a good foundation for a player’s confidence.
No rest for the weary, are you excited to get back to Varsity Netball action?
I am very excited to join the team for the final stretch of the Varsity Netball. We all have worked so hard to our final goal and to be able to finish a netball season with those ladies means the world to me.
Do you believe Tuks can defend their title this year, if so, how do you think they can do so?
Yes, definitely. The ladies have what it takes to do it and we are definitely not going to stand aside for somebody else to claim the title. We have a strong captain in Tshina Mdau and a group of ladies that works hard for each other and wants to pull this through for one another and we are ready to fight to defend our title.
By Theriso Lethuloe
