Netball South Africa (NSA) and City of Johannesburg (CoJ) have today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which will see the 2024 edition of the Telkom Netball League (TNL) hosted at the Ellis Park Arena from 26 April – 23 June. The agreement will lead both organisations to working closely in hosting a successful tournament.
The signing ceremony at the Johannesburg Theatre, was conducted by NSA President Cecilia Molokwane and CoJ MMC for Community Development Cllr. Lubabalo Magwentshu. The ceremony comes three days before this year’s TNL media launch, which will be held in Sandton on Thursday, 11 April 2024.
The TNL, which was launched in 2014, (Telkom however came on board in 2019 following a plea from Molokwane after the previous sponsor pulled out) continues to produce some of the best quality players that represent the country, in both national and international tournaments.
Newly appointed Spar Proteas coach Jenny van Dyk who led the Gauteng Jaguars to winning five consecutive titles between 2017 and 2021 (in 2018 and 2020 won the title without losing a single match), has expressed her excitement about the TNL.
“The TNL a springboard for players to be scouted and given an opportunity to be a part of the national team, I have coached a number of players who later became Spar Proteas like Shardine van der Merwe, Izette Griesel, Ine – Marie Venter Lenize Potgieter Tshina, Mdau Lungi, Mthembu and Jenny van Wyk, just to name a few from the top of my head.”
Speaking during the signing Ceremony Molokwane said, “Today we are here witnessing history in the making, we have never had an MoU signing ceremony with a city hosting one of our tournaments before, (apart from the 2023 World Netball World Cup in Cape Town). This partnership was born from a casual conversation between the MMC and I, discussing how we can improve the life of the girl child. With the #TakingNetballBackToThePeople, the aim is to inspire the girl child and bring their favourite players to closer to them.”
Through this partnership, the TNL aligns with both the visions of the city and Gauteng Province, which are “Sporting City of Choice” and “Home of Champions” respectively.
“This prestigious tournament that is to take place in the City of Joburg will be the first of many, and I know all this could not have happened without the hard work of officials of the city and the collaboration with the Netball South Africa team. We also look forward to the economic spinoffs, improvement of our domestic tourism and job opportunities that will come with it.” MMC Lubabalo Magwentshu said.
One of the concerns in hosting this tournament, is the security risk of this part of the city. NSA and the entire sporting fraternity, including PSL and Lion’s amongst others, sees a need not only to receive, but to contribute to addressing social ills in this country, using sport as a vehicle. Telkom plays an important role in the development and growth of netball and a girl child holistically. It’s sponsorship of the TNL and the Telkom National Championships (TNC) is making an impact in different communities, as stars are being unearthed throughout the netball pipeline and it provides a pathway for players that aspire to be in the national netball team, popularly known as the Spar Proteas.
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