NETBALL WORLD CUP LOOMS LARGE FOR SA
EVERYONE connected with the game of netball is holding thumbs to find out whether Netball South Africa’s (NSA) bid to host the Netball World Cup in Cape Town in 2023 has been successful.
By the end of this month, or early April at the latest, the Bid Evaluation Committee (BEC) established by the International Netball Federation (INF) over a year ago is expected to announce which nation, between South Africa and New Zealand, has been chosen to host the most important event on the international netball calendar following the bid presentations made late last year in Singapore by the two nations.
NSA firmly believes their bid is the stronger of the two and has intimated that the INF cannot ignore the fact that netball is one of the fastest growing sports on the African continent and that no African country has ever hosted the Netball World Cup.
Also it’s a fact that Africa has never hosted a World Cup of any magnitude for women and South Africa has proved on many occasions that it can host major sporting events and if it is entrusted with hosting the 2023 Netball World Cup it would become only the second country, after England, to host the Fifa World Cup, the Rugby World Cup, the Cricket World Cup and the Netball World Cup.
New Zealand, on the other hand, has hosted three previous Netball World Cup tournaments, in 1967, 1987 and 2003, winning it each time, and 2023 will mark the centenary year of netball in New Zealand making the bid process all that more competitive.
The Netball World Cup was launched in 1963 and has been staged 14 times, Australia having dominated it, winning it outright 10 times and sharing it with three times winners New Zealand and Trinidad and Tobago once in 1979.
New Zealand are ranked second in the world after Australia with Jamaica third and England fourth while there are three African countries in the top ten in the world: South Africa (5), Malawi (6) and Uganda (7), with Zimbabwe 13th and Zambia 16th.
Netball is a major participation sport in South Africa, second only to soccer, and it is by far the most popular sport among women, so hosting such a prestigious event would provide opportunities for the empowerment of women as an all-female committee appointed by NSA would head the Organising Committee.
Netball South Africa (NSA) President, Cecilia Molokwane, said recently that hosting the World Cup is central to NSA’s long-term strategy to develop the sport.
“Hosting the World Cup would enable us to attract new sponsors,” she said, “which in turn would secure a strong financial future for NSA.
“As the top-ranked team in Africa, we want Netball World Cup 2023 to inspire and enable other African countries to grow and to develop the sport so as to become full members of the INF.”
The SPAR Proteas head coach, Norma Plummer, who coached Australia to World Cup gold medals in 2007 and 2011, said the Proteas had improved to such an extent they were today matching the best teams in the world.
“African netball is rising, there are five African countries ranked in the world’s top 20, three of which are in the world’s top 10 which is surely reason enough for the 2013 World Cup to be played in Cape Town.
“It’s time!” said Plummer. Meanwhile, five months ahead of the 2019 World Cup to be held in Liverpool in July this year, all 100 000 tickets have already been snapped up, a solid indication of the interest there is in the game at international as well as regional and club level.