The champions of 2015 and 2016, the NWU-Pukke, will enter this year’s Varsity Netball tournament in the hopes of claiming the title for a third consecutive time.
Dorette Badenhorst will spend her last season as the head coach of the NWU-Pukke alongside captain Chanté Bester, who will take the reins of a young side with new faces. Badenhorst said that they hope to take the title once again, but there are many challenges which they will have to face in order to succeed.
“We would love to make it three out of three, but it will not be easy,” she said. “Each year there are many challenges and also many factors that can be a part of it. It’s five weeks before the semi-finals and everything must go 100% according to plan in order to come out on top. The quota rules also came into play and must also be applied and will certainly play a role,” said Badenhorst.
“We are going to approach the tournament weekend by weekend. It is very important to set your goals as a team and to not underestimate any team. It is also important to peak at the right time but the main focus is to play good netball week in and week out,” said Badenhorst.
A few changes have been made to the 2016 NWU-Pukke’s side due to players who left the university.
“We are heading into this tournament with a very different team. There will be no Renske Stoltz and Sigi Burger is still out due to an injury which she sustained in January. We will lose the service of Kifiloe (Fifi) Tsotesi as well as Marna Claassens who will be playing for Kovsies,” Badenhorst concluded.
Bester and the NWU-Pukke side are fully determined to deliver their best performance at each encounter as they will also play for each other.
“We want to play for each other and enjoy every moment on and also off the netball court. We want to make use of every opportunity and use it to the best of our abilities,” said Bester.
According to Bester the NWU-Pukke prepared very well during the off season as well as the past week for the upcoming matches this weekend.
“We focused on all our combinations and to let the youngsters in the side practice everything. We also aimed to get everyone in form for the power play so that it would not be so bad the first time,” said Bester.
The NWU-Pukke will make their way down to Bloemfontein for the first bumper weekend of the tournament as they will face UJ first with Tuks to follow.
The NWU-Pukke side: Claudia van den Bergh, Anja Esterhuizen, Jessica Du Plessis, Marike Maree, Nicole Amiras, Mandy Hermanus, Rome Dreyer, Didi Keebine, Chanté Bester ©, Zandré Kruger, Monique Reyneke, Simone Rabie
By Raynique Meyer
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