Plummer mixes youth with experience for upcoming Quad Series

TWO new names have been added to the Proteas national netball team while veteran centre Erin Burger will make her return ahead of next month’s Quad Series in Australia and New Zealand as well as a two-Test series in Fiji.

South African coach Norma Plummer named shooters Danelle Lochner and Ina-Marie Venter in her 12-member squad following a week-long training camp at the Pretoria University High-Performance Centre.

“Danelle came straight from the World Youth Championships and she almost selected herself. She is physically powerful and she has the great maturity for a girl of 19,” said Plummer.

“It is always good to get a player of that calibre at such an early age.”

The Proteas will be using the Quad Series, which continues in South Africa and England next year, as part of the buildup to the Commonwealth Games in Australia next year.

Bongi Msomi, who has been playing in the United Kingdom, will retain the captaincy of the team while goal defence Karla Mostert will be her deputy.

South Africa’s shooter Lenize Potgieter, who played in the New Zealand league, will add to the team’s international experience.

“It is fair to say in the past two years, since Nicole Cusack (assistant coach) and I have been working with the team and through different tours and series we’ve had, we have been able to get improvement and lower scoreline,” Plummer said.

“We are looking forward to that being maintained, it is about putting in the effort and if we can get a lot more preparation we would be able to get far more favourable results.”

PROTEAS SQUAD: Bongiwe Msomi (captain), Karla Mostert (vice-captain), Erin Burger, Maryka Holtzhausen, Danelle Lochner, Rochelle Loubser, Phumza Maweni, Precious Mthembu, Nadia Uys Pienaar, Lenize Potgieter, InaMarie Venter, Zanele Vimbela.