Bongi Msomi urges sponsors to stay beyond Netball World Cup

After years of struggling for sponsors, Netball South Africa [NSA] now has the backing of longtime partner Spar, alongside Discovery Health, Puma South Africa, and Telkom – headline sponsors of the domestic netball league, which kicks off in Limpopo next weekend.

But Msomi, who made her international debut in 2011, recalls a time when one of the country's most popular sports had no one to turn to. 

She has urged these partners to not just take advantage of the limelight of the global showpiece in July, but invest in future players too.

"I've been part of the times when there was nothing, and at this point we have all these sponsors coming on board – it really makes me feel more humble to know that I will stop playing this sport and it will still look after people," she told SABC Sport.

"We know it's World Cup, and there are all these sponsors coming aboard, support is really booming, but netball doesn't stop after the World Cup."

"Any time I get to speak about netball, sponsors need to stay and look after these kids [aspiring netball players]. Please don't do it for the short term because we have kids that still need to be looked after.

While male athletes in South Africa have made a living from sports for years, for someone like Msomi, that dream only became a reality as recently as 2022. 

The KwaZulu-Natal native was among the first 24 players to receive a professional contract from Netball South Africa. Msomi highlights the most important aspects of being a sponsored athlete, especially the burdens most black adults in this country have to bear.

"I think the biggest thing is to actually understand that there's so much into sports, rather than playing and probably getting paid. Like myself I'm an ambassador of Puma I don't have to buy Puma clothes, which means I'm saving already.

“Think about the 'black tax', we go home we have money to give at home, just because some of the things are covered. Discovery looks after us with medical aid, which means you don't have to pay for that.”

The 35-year-old commends NSA for ensuring every talented athlete is given a chance at a contract and, most importantly, no player becomes comfortable as those contracts will only be awarded exclusively on merit. 

"They [NSA] got a point where they are saying 'we will give you contracts. Every year we will announce that this is the amount of people we going to contract, but it's not guaranteed, it's performance based'.

"And I love that because it gives everyone a chance and if you're dropping in terms of standards someone is looking to jump in. It's more like a clockwise thing, the wheel carries on rolling."