Premier League confined to two venues

Organisers launched the Brutal Fruit Netball Premier League on Tuesday‚ but they were unable to give a breakdown of prize money and other incentives.

The 10-team league that starts on Saturday has a different look‚ with all matches scheduled for the Ellis Park indoor arena in Johannesburg or the University of Pretoria’s Rembrandt Hall instead of being staged around the country. Just three days from the action, Netball SA president Cecilia Molokwane was unable to talk about prize money or incentives‚ saying only they were in the pipeline.

The 2017 winners‚ the Pretoria Jaguars‚ went to the Super League tournament for national champions in New Zealand as part of their prize.

Molokwane said: “We don’t want to announce something that we’re not sure of … it will be announced in due course. We have something in the pipeline but we are not ready to announce it now.”

She was also noncommittal when questioned about rewards for players. “For now‚ let’s play for the pride of our provinces … let’s play to be in the President’s XII that is going to be selected in the six weeks,” said Molokwane. “The players should play netball for the love of the game. We want to turn professional … if it means paying them at the end‚ we shall do so.”

She said the proposed bid for SA to host the netball World Cup in 2023 was still in the pipeline. “We are waiting for answers. We are waiting for answers from the department‚ we are waiting for answers from Sascoc.” /