Netball SA: It’s our time

– Though bidding rivals New Zealand have their own reasons for being confident in the race to host the 2023 Netball World Cup, Netball South Africa (NSA) believes the time has come for international officials to bring the tournament to Africa.

“New Zealand netball is celebrating its centenary in 2023, but that does not do anything to make us fearful because we are saying this is Africa’s time,” NSA president Cecilia Molokwane said on the sidelines of this week’s Spar National Championships.

New Zealand, which announced Auckland as its candidate last month, had hosted three of the previous 14 editions of the quadrennial tournament.

No African nation had played hosts, however, despite South Africa and Malawi being consistently ranked among the top six teams in the world and Uganda recently climbing to seventh position.

“It will be the first time such a big tournament comes to Africa, and the first time in the history of sport in South Africa that we will have a female-dominated sport hosting a World Cup,” Molokwane said.

“That’s never happened in our country so we think it’s our time.”

The national body handed its bid to the International Netball Federation in London last week, giving New Zealand its only opposition as potential hosts.

Earlier this week, at the national championships opening ceremony, deputy sports minister Gert Oosthuizen confirmed the government would support the bid, with the City of Cape Town having also thrown its weight behind the attempt.

The event would reportedly attract around 120 000 visitors to the Mother City and offer a R2.5 billion boost to the economy.