With less than 200 days to go until the Netball World Cup, the Spar Proteas are putting in all the work to be at their best come July.
Cape Town – With less than 200 days to go until the Netball World Cup, the Spar Proteas are putting in all the work to be at their best come July.
South Africa will start their preparations with the quad series which gets under way on Saturday (tomorrow) in Cape Town.
The world’s top netball nations New Zealand, Australia and England will compete in the event which should be just the test the host nation need as they prepare for the World Cup.
Earlier this month SA coach Norma Plummer named a competitive squad for the Quad Series where her team will pit their strength against the world’s best teams.
The Quad series will give the team some insight into where they are in their preparations for the Netball World Cup.
Plummer says the team is continuing to make strides in all areas of their game.
“The improvement is coming daily so it’s more about the intensity and the pressure. We’ve had some really strong training sessions that is actually exposing that (intensity and pressure) and that’s what we need to maintain because we are not going to be playing bottom ranked teams, we are playing the top three in the world so we need to be able to sustain (it).”
Team stalwart Karla Pretorius is set to make her return to the team after having a baby.
Plummer says Pretorius is working hard on being match fit but they will be realistic in their expectations of her.
“I don’t think she is back to where she originally was but that’s expected after a baby but she is certainly coming fast. So everyday on court you can see her tweak her game and get better and better.”
Plummer added they also don’t want to over-work her as she makes her return from maternity leave.
The Proteas face World number two side New Zealand in the opening match of the Quad Series at 1pm on Saturday (tomorrow) at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
@AliciaPillay56
