Wits Internal Netball has new structure

by | Feb 12, 2016 | Sport

The Wits Internal Netball League is calling all budding netball players to come register their teams in order to participate in the 2016 internal netball league.
The move, which was decided this week comes as a result of the desire of the internal league to grow.

“I love netball because it’s simple, it’s active and you’re less likely to get injuries than in rugby,” said 2015 Internal League chairperson and first team manager Klaas Mokgomole.
Mokgomole says it is important for the sport to grow in the university. Recruiting these new teams will ensure that there is a larger pool of players and more talent to choose from when the university needs to be represented externally.

“The new structure is aimed at enhancing competition and making sure teams don’t quit,” Mokgomole said.
The new structure of the internal league is that it will now consist of 20 teams in total; 10 of which were top 10 in last year’s league. The teams will be divided into pools A and B respectively, based on their performance in the upcoming season.

Mokgomole says in the past netball was not given the necessary recognition in the past. “I believe it will be recognised this year because the Wits girls won USSA 2015 Championships in Pool B … so netball is in the spotlight” he says.

The pools will function as a kind of a league structure, with Pool A being the “premier league” and Pool B being the first division.
By the end of the season, the bottom three teams in Pool A will be relegated to Pool B and the top three teams in Pool B will be promoted to Pool A.
Pool B, will play their matches on Tuesdays and Pool A will play their matches on Thursdays.

New teams have till February 26, to register. Internal teams will be charged R800 to be part of the league, while external teams will be charged R 1 000 per team.
While players that are not students of the university will be allowed to participate, there are conditions. “You can get any student from any institution and register them in your team as externals … teams that register as externals will be forced to have a minimum of six Wits players. The maximum number of players a team can register is 10-15,” says Mokgomole.
With teams that are internal, they can have a minimum of two Wits players. Clubs and societies as well as schools are also invited to participate in the league.

Netball bounces into action

by | May 22, 2015 | Sport

Here is some information on the Netball action in the university.

As the Wits Internal Netball League (WINL) takes a breather at the end of the term, the Wits Netball Club gets ready to participate in the University Sports South Africa (USSA) tournament next month.

The club is going to be participating in the upcoming USSA National Institutional Netball Championship from June 29 to July 3, hosted by the University of Johannesburg. Wits came second in the B-Section last year.

Ofentse Moropa, Wits Netball Club Vice Chairperson, said: “This year we are hoping to win Gold so that we can be promoted to the A section”.

The netball club is also planning to have the Quad Series later in the year that will feature four other tertiary institutions in Gauteng. The best two teams from each institution will play against one another.

The club is the main team that represents the university against other institutions. The WINL is an internal league that allows any school, residence or club within Wits to join.

“The idea is to get people that are interested in netball to form their own parties and participate in the league,” says Eunice Montso, WINL vice-chairperson.

The best players of the league get a chance to participate in the main team that represents Wits against other teams. Each team is made up of seven players and one male player per team is allowed.

The league began in March and now takes a mid-league break to give participants a chance to study for exams.

Of the 15 teams, the Brainwashers and the Medics are topping the league. The Brainwashers have shown excellent form in the last few weeks winning all eight of their matches. Reigning champions the Medics are left in second place with one game in hand.

Braamfontein Centre, Esselen, Girton Hall and Zenith are teams at the bottom of the log. They have respectively played between six and seven games and have struggled to gain points in as many games.

The league starts again in July with Jubilee taking on Girton Hall at 6pm sharp at the Diggs Fields on the university’s West Campus. League games will run until 17 September.

 

Netball league teams eye coveted title

by | Jul 25, 2014 | Sport

Going up the ranks: Goal Scorer Miya Mathaphela (left) from Medhurst during a game against Jubilee which saw them earning a 25-9 victory. Photo: Nqobile Dludla

Going up the ranks: Goal Scorer Miya Mathaphela (left) from Medhurst during a game against Jubilee which saw them earning a 25-9 victory. Photo: Nqobile Dludla

The top three Wits Netball Internal League (WNIL) teams are not planning on backing down until they get the coveted title once the season resumes next week Tuesday.

This semester will see all teams continuing to prove why they are the best at what they do.

This of course won’t come without a fight, as the other teams attempt to dethrone the Medics who are the current defending champions since 2011.

“We’re only coming back stronger than we were before,” said Medics captain, Florencia Mnisi.

“We strive to be the best. In doing so, we’ve got to keep improving our skills and being better than we were before.”

Medics are leading with 12 points followed by the new residence team, Noswal Hall, and Medhurst, both also with 12 points on the log. What puts Medics in the lead is their goal difference (GD) score sitting at 129 compared to Noswal Hall at 66 and 64 for Medhurst.

These top three of the 12 performing teams won all four of their matches last semester.

Medics’ history as defending champs, after dethroning the once most-feared team Jubilee, is posing a threat to other teams yearning to attain the title. Last year Medhurst walked away with bronze medals in third place while Jubilee lost to Medics and came second.

“We’re like a target everyone wants to get to, so we get pressure because we need to hold on to our title. We are all after victory,” said Mnisi

New kids on the block

True to Mnisi’s assessment, new kids on the block Noswal Hall “want it all”.

“A juggle of the positions would be more interesting, I mean why introduce something new if we want to keep things constant? I believe competition is healthy, keeps everyone on their toes. I would like to think it’s motivating,” said Keneilwe Manda, acting captain of the Noswal team.

Noswal have been playing without a captain since the season began in April. This, however, has not held back the new kids from outperforming Junction by 14-9, Braam Centre by 45-7, Reith by 23-13 and Esselen by 21-8.
“Team work and cooperation is what has kept us together without a captain,” said Manda.

While fitness is a key area for improvement from last semester, Manda also emphasised “making a bigger name for the new kids on the block”.

“We are a team that wants to show that [people should] never underestimate a developing team,” said Manda.

Compared to the other two top teams, Noswal has new players who have not experienced the league before.

Speaking on the performance of the top three teams, WINL coordinator, Ofentse Moropa, said: “If you had asked me before the season started, I would have said that they [Medics] would win without a doubt. However, it is Noswal’s first time in the league and they look like they’ll be the dark horse of the competition and might cause major upsets.”

Indeed, at number three, Medhurst realises that to move up on the score board will take a lot of commitment and effort from the whole team.
Medhurst faced last year’s second-place winners Jubilee last semester in a disappointing match that left Jubilee wondering what had hit them with the score 25-9 in Medhurst’s favour.

“We plan on going up the ranks and the only way to do that is to stay focused and practising and giving each game our best. We are hoping to be number one. We would love to take the trophy home this year,” said Medhurst captain, Apel Kunene.

NETBALL: Jubilee staggers behind as Sunnyside net in a 22 victory

by | Apr 25, 2014 | Sport

The one

SUNNYSIDE UP: (L-R) Jubilee’s Dia Mpopo and Sunnyside’s Venia Chirombe. Sunnyside has managed to win two out of three games thus far whilst Jubilee has only won one out of three. Photo: Nqobile Dludla

Once the most-feared netball team on campus, Jubilee was defeated 22-8 by Sunnyside in the third leg of the Wits Internal Netball League at the Digs Field on Tuesday, April 22.
Captain Makoma Molapo admitted the team lacked sparkle and “were not up to par”.

“This is not like Jubes. Everyone knows that this is the team to look out for. Today particularly I feel like most of the players were not up to par. I don’t know what was wrong with everybody: not catching balls, not throwing in the right spaces, it was just a mess. No-one looked prepared to come play the game and win the game.”

Commenting on their recent performance, which has lost them two games out of three in this year’s league, Molapo said: “Most of our team members graduated and left this year so I’m literally the only one standing from last year. Clearly we have a lot of work ahead of us and we need to learn how to work as a team.

“From this game forward I’m hoping that the old Jubes can come back because we left the bar so high, it doesn’t make sense to be losing games right now because, literally, we did not lose a game in these Tuesday games. It’s a new thing for us and it’s not a good thing. We need to get back to where we were.”

Mpho Mokoena, Esselen coach and an umpire for the Jubilee-Sunnyside match, said it was a problem that most players in the internal league still could not adjust to the level of netball required in the league.

“We’re still playing high school level netball. Meanwhile, some players have actually played at regional and provincial levels, so that becomes an issue. We play at different levels based on where we come from – either from Gauteng east, north and central, where players play differently. So it’s problematic when I have to judge the high school level players against more equipped players.”

Game of the East Campers 

Five minutes into the game, an attempt inside Sunnyside’s circle paid off for scoring machine, Lebo Mokwena. Jubilee’s Naledi Maubane netted one with a powerful angled shot, but their joy was short-lived when Sunnyside’s Khanya Zwelibanzi and Lebo Mokwena paired up for a cleverly executed goal.

The first quarter saw Sunnyside dominating with a 6-1 lead. Jubilee came back in the second and third quarter following a stern talk from the captain. Both teams were warned a number of times about stepping and crowding, which led to clumsy play by both sides.

The end of the third quarter saw Sunnyside leading 15-5. Jubilee rallied strongly after the break with some much-needed shooting by Maubane. But Jubilee could not maintain the intensity and scored only another three in the final stretch.

Sunnyside has won two out of its three league matches so far. Their captain, Musi Lidovho, applauded her team.

“The team performed really well. I think we are capable of far more, especially considering the fact that we don’t even have a coach. But otherwise, the team’s been gelling well and we hope we can keep with this winning streak.”

 

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NETBALL: Medhurst net 25 in victory over Jubilee

by | Apr 16, 2014 | Sport

WINL

SHOOTING MACHINE: (L-R) Goal scorer Miya Mathapelo from Medhurst and Jubilee’s goal keeper Zamokuhle Buthelezi. The fast paced match left Jubilee struggling to keep up as Medhurst dominated the last three quarters with solid goal shootings earning them a 25-9 victory over Jubilee

Medhurst Hall beat Jubilee 25-9 in the second round of the Wits internal netball league last night.

After a victorious start to the season, Medhurst finally appear to be finding some consistency, backing up last week’s thrilling win over Sunnyside with another meticulous performance against Jubilee.

Stand-in Jubilee captain, Naledi Maubane said the team played well and showed consistency despite a few errors.

“Considering the fact that some of our players are sick and couldn’t pitch, we had to make do with what we have. People were playing positions they had never played before. We played pretty well. Generally I don’t think that we’re that bad. Just the small mistakes like stepping and throw away balls is an issue,”

The fast paced match left Jubilee struggling to keep up as Medhurst dominated the last three quarters with solid goal shooting. Jubilee, as usual, produced their strongest and most consistent performance, frustrating Medhurst with their strategically high and long passes.

Locked in a goal-for-goal battle in the first quarter, Jubilee did not allow the frustration of being unable to stop Medhurst shooting machine, Miya Mathapelo, to affect their own attacking game. The first quarter ended with both teams at three all.

Heading into the second quarter, Jubilee and Medhurst proved equal to the task working the ball around the circle while waiting for spaces to open up. When they did, the results from Medhurst were spectacular, with the shooting pairing of Mathapelo and Jessica Mathekgane combining beautifully. Despite Medhurst’s dominance, Jubilee made solid advances to their goal posts attempting to score. The second quarter left Medhurst with 10 and Jubilee 5.

A couple of clumsy passes in the shooting circle between Jubilee’s goal shooter and goal attack started to decline as Jubilee continued to show strong resolve early on in the third quarter, stretching their goal attempts out to three goals. But as they tired later in the quarter, their intensity began to drop off witnessing Medhurst stretching their lead to five goals heading into the final quarter.

Medhurst continued to challenge Jubilee into making errors early in the fourth spell, quickly opening a 10 goal advantage to prompt some desperate changes to the Jubilee defence. The final quarter witnessed Medhurst emerging victorious leaving the score 25-9 in their favour.

Despite the victory, acting Medhurst captain, Merriam Maila, said “We definitely need to improve in the centre, I think when we play in the centre we’re not calm. When we’re playing we get too excited and lose focus. So we have to work on that.”