Organisers forced to adjust structure
Wesley Bo on
– Last-minute withdrawals and late arrivals created a logistical nightmare yesterday, Netball South Africa admitted, after the structure of the tournament was adjusted on the opening day of the Spar National Netball Championships.
While organisers had initially expected 12 teams to participate in the A-division, the Johannesburg district side arrived late and was scratched from the pro-
Port Elizabeth
gramme, with tournament rules stating that squads had to be registered by 10am on the first day of competition.
Having communicated with Johannesburg team management ahead of the deadline, tournament director Mami Diale said they had to put their foot down in order to set a precedent.
“Once you make changes for a team that comes late, you will be accountable for it, and you’ll have to do it over and over for the other teams as well,” Diale said.
Due to an administrative error, Ethekwini had been entered in the A-division after the district had registered to compete in the B-division, and they too had to be scratched from the top-flight section.
With 10 teams remaining, the A-division format was adjusted and two pools were combined into one group for the round robin stages.
On the court, title favourites Tshwane got off to a cracking start, beating Bojanala (Rustenburg) 90-20 before crushing Sarah Baartman (Kimberley) 113-13.