As part of Cape Town’s build up to the Netball World Cup, the City of Cape Town sponsored an eight-week Street Netball programme, led by the Sporting Chance Development Foundation.
Launched on 21 April 2023, the street netball programme followed a series of round robin netball matches in the communities of Grassy Park, Elsies River, Mitchell’s Plain, Khayelitsha, Langa, Mfuleni, Ocean View and Nomzamo.
Over 760 girls under the age of 13 from these communities competed every Friday afternoon in an adapted five-a-side version of the conventional netball game.
The junior players associated their team names to countries competing in the 2023 Netball World Cup.
The top 16 teams (winners and runners-up per region) from the Regional Finals, which took place on Youth Day, battled it out on Sunday, 29 July 2023 at the Netball World Cup Cape Town Fan Park in the festival finale.
‘The City of Cape Town is excited to support Sporting Chance on this Street Netball initiative because it focuses on getting young people back out onto the streets to play sports and lead a healthy and active lifestyle. The programme is not just about netball. It provides essential life skills training, builds confidence and showcases the talent within our communities ensuring that we continue a legacy for the sport. We are so proud of all of the girls and look forward to seeing them play as future netball stars,’ said Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, Councillor Patricia Van der Ross.
Both teams from Mfuleni (Mfuleni 1 – Team England and Mfuleni 2 – Team Wales) dominated the street netball court knocking out all teams from the other participating communities and went on to face each other in the final match.
Mfuleni 2 (aka Team Wales) grabbed the win with a squad of exceptionally talented young girls, which included two young stars that play in the provincial netball team.
‘With the 2023 Netball World Cup currently under way in our beautiful city, I am proud that the Street Netball initiative has also been a great success. To see all the hard work and passion these young girls dedicate to the sport of Netball and having them compete right outside from where their heroes are playing makes it that much more heart-warming. As the City, we are proud and committed to supporting legacy programmes such as these, which serves as a platform to guide them towards future opportunities, ensure growth of netball in communities and develops the skill of aspiring netball stars,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.
In addition to being crowned winners of the Street Netball programme, the young stars won the opportunity to watch the South African team take on Jamaica in their third match of the 2023 Netball World Cup.
The Cape Town Netball Federation and Netball South Africa also endorse the Sporting Chance Street Netball programme, and this forms part of the collective legacy the Netball World Cup leaves behind for Cape Town, South Africa and the African continent.
