More than 60 netball players from the length and breadth of the Sunshine Coast played their hearts out in Kenton-on-Sea on Sunday August 24. At stake was their team’s possible selection to represent the Ndlambe Netball Association in a district showdown next month.
Five teams from Alexandria, Ekuphumleni and Marselle and four from Port Alfred and Bathurst dodged, pivoted and passed their way into the hearts of an enthusiastic crowd at the Ekuphumleni sports grounds.
“The standard has improved a lot since last year,” said chairperson of the Ndlambe Netball Association, Nomawethu Ngangqu.
So had the general attitude of the participating teams.
“It’s been well organised. The teams have all been here on time, ready to play when they’re called. There were no delays.”
Ngangqu puts it down better coaching, better umpiring, and motivated players.
“A number of our coaches haves attended coaching clinics, and we have a lot of new level 1 coaches,” she said. ”That means they’re familiar with the new netball rulebook, and they make sure their players know and understand the rules. That translates to smoother play and we saw that on the court on Saturday. It makes it more enjoyable for the players and the fans.”
In addition, Ndlambe now has four level 1 umpires, and three level 2 umpires.
“That helps a lot when it comes to applying the rules and keeping the game consistent.”
Then, in July, Ngangqu took two players to the Telkom Netball Championships – a five-day tournament featuring U17, U18 and U19 teams that serves as an important development platform. Vintage Galz Navy players Siyakha Coto and Oyama Dayile played for the Sarah Baartman District U19 team.
“That made the difference not only to those two players, but to the whole netball community here,” Ngangqu said. “Those players spoke about what they’d seen and they shared what they learnt.
“It had a huge impact.”
The pair played against Vintage Green in the first game of the day last Sunday.
It was appropriate for Kenton to host last weekend’s tournament: its Vintage Galz Netball Club alone has three teams, each distinguished by colour (Vintage Galz Red, Green and Navy).
There was a hunger for goals as the five Pool A teams – Marselle Girls, Young Eagles (Wentzel Park) and Vintage R, G and N – and four Pool B teams – Warriors A, Warriors B, We Are One and Amaqhawe – did battle in ideal conditions: clear skies, temperatures in the low 20s and no wind.
They were well supported by local youngsters, as well as teachers and coaches. Ngangqu was particularly impressed by the number of parents who had come from Port Alfred, Bathurst, Alexandria and Marselle to support their daughters.
“We are really grateful for that,” she said. “It means a lot to the players.”
After an intense day and 10 games later, Warriors A and Amaqhawe emerged the top two teams in Pool A; Vintage N and Vintage R were first and second in Pool B.
Vintage Galz Netball Club from Ekuphumleni, Kenton-on-Sea (coach Nomawethu Ngangqu) and Warriors Netball Club from Bathurst (coach Siphokazi Mkrakra) will be representing Ndlambe Netball Association in the Sarah Baartman (district level) championship games, where top two clubs from each municipality in the district will be competing.
There will be two rounds in this competition. The first round will be played in Makhanda on September 13, 2025 and the second round will be played in Kirkwood on the October 18, 2025.
-
This article was first published in Talk of the Town, August 28, 2025. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays
