SPAR Proteas gear up for Jamaica, UK tours

The African champions will face Jamaica in three test matches from 18-22 January before heading to the UK to compete in the Nations Cup against hosts England, Uganda, and Malawi. 

Van Dyk confirmed they will not only travel with the 15-player squad, but also with the U21 Baby Proteas team to help their preparations for the upcoming World Youth Cup in Gibraltar later this year.

"The SA U21 team will be travelling with us, which gives us a good opportunity to work with them a little bit and help them to prepare the best they can," said van Dyk.

"After this tournament, they will obviously know who the players will be that will become a part of that journey as well, and the idea is for us to get a little bit more out of that in the sense of playing against the Jamaica U21 team in a training match as well."

The coach also views the matches against the Sunshine Girls as well as the Nations Cup as a valuable opportunity to assess her players' performance in different conditions.

"It's going to be a difficult one in the sense that, in Jamaica, we're going to go to pretty much the same temperature as we have here, and then a week later when we move to the UK, it will be four degrees," she added.

"So it's going to be quite a big difference for us, climate-wise, to adjust to, but we've also worked on that note to make sure the players can adjust to all the factors that will contribute [to performance]."

READ: Elsje Jordaan on turning Johannesburg into a netball powerhouse