My captain should lead on the court: Jenny van Dyk

This after Netball South Africa confirmed Chawane to take over from Bongiwe Msomi, with veteran defender Karla Pretorius as her vice captain.

Van Dyk added that leading the Proteas will also give her vice captain Pretorius an opportunity to leave a lasting legacy when she decides to retire.

"We want our captains on the court because that's where they lead from but in saying that we've got Karla as a vice captain and she's done such a phenomenal job in the past few years,” Van Dyk said.

“She's such a fantastic player and she's such a great mentor to these young players. Karla, I mean she's played a long time and she put her hand up and said 'You know what, KC and I will help this team as we exit'. Not that she's exiting now but as I am getting them prepared for the future, in order to leave a great legacy behind. I'm quite chuffed with the two captains that we have at the moment."

READ: Sundowns learnt a lot from Women’s Cup defeat - Jerry Tshabalala

The Proteas began their camp on Wednesday to prepare for the upcoming Spar challenge taking place in October at Ellis Park, followed by the African Cup Championships towards the end of the year.

Van Dyk says the outcome of the two tournaments will set the tone for 2027 Netball World Cup in Sydney.

"For us alignment is super important, we need everybody on the same level. We need to see eye to eye, we need to figure out as a group together. We know where we are going, we've got a lot lined up, the organisation goes up until 2027,” she added.

“We know what we need and we know what we need to get done but now it's making sure that everybody buys into the product because at the end of the day, I will be on the side and those girls will be on the court and they are the ones that need to run. So, this is an important final alignment program."