South Africa national netball team


The South Africa national netball team, nicknamed the SPAR Proteas, represents South Africa in women's international netball. The SPAR Proteas are coached by Dorette Badenhorst, and are captained by Bongiwe Msomi. The team are governed by Netball South Africa and sponsored by SPAR. South Africa are currently fifth in the INF World Rankings.

History

South Africa have long been among the top five ranked nations in netball, having twice won medals at the World Cup, once with a third-place finish in 1967 and later securing runner-up status to Australia in 1995. The national team was barred from participating in international test matches in 1969 because of the country's apartheid policies and were not readmitted until 1995. Their surprise appearance in 1995 World Cup Final came off the back of an historic victory over New Zealand earlier in the tournament and saw the team receive a medal from President Nelson Mandela personally. The SPAR Proteas have failed to claim a medal at the Commonwealth Games.
As well as competing in World Cups and at the Commonwealth Games, the Proteas also regularly participate in the Quad Series against Australia, New Zealand and England, though the team has never finished above fourth place in the tournament. The Proteas also feature in the all-African Diamond Challenge tournament most years, which they have won on each occasion thus far.

Players

Current team

The current squad was selected for the 2019 Netball World Cup.

Competitive history