There is no need to wait until next month to celebrate women in South African sport.
Banyana Banyana are already doing the nation proud at the Fifa Women’s World Cup in New Zealand, where they nearly caused an upset in their opening match against Sweden last Sunday.
They took the lead through a Hildah Magaia goal, but after conceding an equaliser, Banyana’s hearts were broken when Sweden scored the winner in the final minute.
They hopefully produced another inspirational performance in the early hours of this morning against Argentina at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.
But now it’s the turn of the Proteas ladies to fly the flag at the Netball World Cup in Cape Town.
Captain Bongi Msomi and her team will be going all out to conquer the world at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, starting with their clash against Wales on Friday.
South Africa will play their second match on Saturday against Sri Lanka, before rounding off their group-stage fixtures against Jamaica on Sunday.
New Zealand are the defending champions and have won five titles, while Australia rule the roost with 11 crowns.
But the Proteas will hope to at least match their best ever performance in the tournament, which came in 1995 when they reached the final in Birmingham.
South Africa, with star player Irene van Dyk leading the way, unfortunately lost 68-48 to Australia on that occasion.
Now it’s a chance for the likes of Karla Pretorius, Phumza Maweni, Shadine van der Merwe and Khanyisa Chawane to write their names into netball and sporting history in the Proteas’ bid to become world champions.
They can set the tone for South African sport for the rest of the year, as the Rugby World Cup will take place in France in September and October, where the Springboks will be defending their title, while the Proteas will be keen to change their Cricket World Cup fortunes in India in October.
Let’s get behind Msomi and her class of 2023 over the next two weeks, so that they can go one step further than the 1995 side and clinch the title.
Cape Times