Netball SA set a timeline for a professional league

President of NSA Cecilia Molokwane officially announced to SABC Sport that intensive efforts are underway to elevate the status of the game to a fully professional level.

Currently, South African players find themselves compelled to compete internationally, given the semi-professional nature of netball in the country. Molokwane expressed unwavering determination, emphasizing that despite a few remaining challenges, the transition to full professionalism is imminent, particularly following the successful hosting of last year's 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town.

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“Look, Netball, we hosted a successful World Cup, and we have done all we can to bring in all sorts of sponsors to support the sport. Now, we need to go out and look for the money to set up the professional league. It’s time for players to be paid and do what they love the most. We want to start small not with 15 teams,” said Molokwane.

“Australia started small, but look at how big they are now. England even started smaller, but they have a big professional league. We want to see how we can gel; we will never have ten teams in the league. We want the league to be highly competitive, and we want our players to come back home and play in the country,” stated Molokwane.

Molokwane insisted, “We will reach the 2025 timeline, and the players have suffered enough,” she promised that the national federation would put their mouth where their money is and make this dream a reality.

Molokwane further mentioned that retired players like Bongiwe Msomi and Phumza Maweni would actively contribute to this initiative, ensuring they do not become lost to the sport.