Cape Town - The SPAR Proteas team are hard at work, on and off the field, as the Netball World Cup is just a few months away.
Yesterday Telkom, the official sponsor of the upcoming tournament, launched the #standtall campaign in a bid to use the sport help young South Africans embrace who they are as they grow netball ahead of the World Cup.
Banyana Banyana won hearts of South Africans (and sponsors) after they won the Africa Cup of Cup Nations last year. It was an important step for Desiree Ellis’ team as they look to not only grow women’s football but women’s sport in general.
Achieving greatness comes when you #StandTall through the noise. 💪😁 We want to encourage you to embrace your talents, to not let your fear control you. #NWC2023 #TelkomNetball #TelkomNetball@netballsa pic.twitter.com/5pRjSQZZTv
— @TelkomZA (@TelkomZA) February 8, 2023
SA Netball captain Bongi Msomi is of the belief that things are on the right track and if they play their part, netball can only grow in stature and in return there will be an impact on women’s sport.
“I like the idea of women changing and being supported. We are supported but it’s still not where we would like it to be and and I like that you can always see the step forward from where it was before and that’s what you need to dwell on.
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“You can’t constantly want to tick a box of not constantly being seeing and not supported if you are not putting in the work as well. So I am pretty sure the World Cup is going to change a lot of things, it’s going to bring a whole lot of sponsors on board.“
The upcoming event will be Msomi’s fourth World Cup and she is hoping that she and her team can leave a lasting legacy.
“I just want to go out and take the legacy of firstly where we finish, we really want to finish on a podium (at the World Cup), if it’s a trophy, first ... why not ... but really a medal itself will be something fantastic for this group and if I can finish with that, that will be so awesome. Taking that and giving so many girls and boys out there hope that we can actually do it, it’s going to be a fantastic journey and that’s a legacy on it’s own.”
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Msomi added that’s it’s important that the home team show’s the local fans what they are capable of on the global stage.
“A couple of times we had a good crack but it’s still not enough because maybe we are not physically seeing it. This can change a lot of perceptions that we are maybe good but not good enough. If we can do it now, it will tell everyone that we are actually good enough. So I think that’s the best legacy we can create here to give hope and show it live and that it is possible."