Looking back at the 2021 SPAR Challenge Tri Nations Series in Cape Town and our FIVE debutants who took the court and represented South Africa admirably against Uganda and Namibia.
Nonsikelelo Mazibuko (21) made her goal shooting debut against Namibia Thursday 25 March and later that same day put in a sublime shooting performance against Uganda contributing 32/34 (94%). Nonsikelelo scored 94 goals in the series.
Mazibuko also appeared for the South African U/20 team in 2016 at the tender age of 17 years. She debuted for the Kingdom Stars in 2019 and also played in last year’s Telkom Netball League.
She has represented Ethekweni at the 2019 U/21 SPAR National Championship where she was the Shooter of the Tournament. She repeated the feat a year later (2020) in the same competition, this time playing for King Cetshwayo.
Sian Moore (22) mader her goal shooting debut against Namibia on 25 March and followed up with a super shooting performance against Uganda 28 March with 27/30 (90%) and a 14/14 (100%) performance against Namibia 30 March. Sian scored 116 goals in the series.
Moore made her debuted for the Southern Stings last year in the Telkom Netball League and made an immediate impact with three Player of the Match awards.
Chantelle Swart (23) made her goal attack debut against Namibia in the second half on 25 March and contributed 28 goals in the series.
Swart debuted for the Golden Fireballs in 2016. In only her second outing she received the Player of the Match award. She joined the Jaguars in 2017. Swart was picked as an injury replacement for the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup in Botswana, but sustained an unfortunate ACL injury before the start of the tournament.
She returned for the Jaguars in 2018. At the completion of both the 2018 and 2019 USSA Champs she was named in the Team of the Tournament. In 2018 she travelled to Uganda for the World University Championship.
Since joining the Jaguars in 2017, Swart has helped the Gauteng team win the Telkom Netball League four times.
Nozipho Ntshangase (22) made her debut against Namibia on 25 March coming on in the second half in the goal defence position. Two days later she was on fire again against Namibia winning the Player of the Match award. Nozipho made 10 intercepts in the series.
Ntshangase is a former SPAR Baby Protea (in 2017). At both the 2016 and 2017 U/19 National Championships she walked away with the accolade as the tournament’s best defender.
She first appeared for the Kingdom Stars in 2018. Later that year she was selected for the President’s XII who participated at the Diamond Challenge. At the 2019 SPAR National Championship she appeared for Ethekwini and a year later for the Jaguars in the Telkom Netball League.
At the 2020 SPAR National Championships where Ntshangase was in action for Tshwane, she was awarded as Best Defender of the tournament.
Simoné Rabie (23) made her goal keeping debut against Namibia Thursday 25 March. She played in all six tests in the SPAR Challenge making 22 intercepts for South Africa and winning a well deserved Player of the Match award in the third test against Namibia Tuesday 30 March.
Rabie first appeared for the North West Flames, North West and NWU in 2016. She was the Player of the Tournament at the U/19 National Championships in 2016. She was a member of the SA U/20 team in 2016 and the SPAR Baby Proteas a year later playing at the 2017 Netball Word Youth Cup in Gaborone.
In the 2019 Telkom Netball League Rabie scooped four Player of the Match awards, she was also named the Defender of the Tournament.
In last year’s TNL competition she earned the Player of the Match award in the very first match, but an unfortunate injury shortly thereafter cut her participation short.
These five are the most number of newcomers in the SPAR Proteas team (of 12 members) since the European Championship in Ireland in 2015 when also five players – Mari-Lena Joubert, Lauren-Lee Christians Weppelman, Izette Griesel, Rochelle Loubser and Shadine van der Merwe – were picked for the first time.
