THE Spar Proteas put up a brave fight in the often physical third and final Test of the three-match Margaret Beckford Sunshine Series against Jamaica in Kingston on early morning Sunday, going down 58-47.
South African head coach Jenny van Dyk believes the lessons learnt will stand the Proteas in good stead despite the clean sweep by the Sunshine Girls at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston.
South Africa got off to a poor start in the final match, failing to score a goal until the sixth minute, and after eight minutes they were trailing 11-1. Both goal shooter Ina-Marie Venter and goal attack Nichole Breedt were misfiring, and head coach Van Dyk brought goal defence Kamogelo Maseka on.
She made an immediate difference, and the South Africans managed to reduce the deficit to five goals by the end of the quarter. Elmere van der Berg also stood out with 30 goals from 33 attempts for the Proteas, according to the Sportsmax website.
Jamaica dominated the second quarter, although the Proteas fought back hard. Jamaica stretched their lead to 10 goals at least three times during the quarter, and by half-time, were 29-19 ahead.
The third quarter was closer, with Jamaica winning it by 14 goals to 13 (43-32) but the damage had been done. At one stage, Jamaica had a 14-goal lead, with goal shooter Shimona Jok, the Player of the Series, again lethal in the circle.
Both sides became very physical.
With Jamaica giving their full bench a run, the Proteas managed to draw the final quarter 15-all. Van Dyk said she was proud of the way the team had fought their way back into the match after trailing 11-1.
“Coming back from that is not an easy task, but it should never have happened in the first place,” she said. “We are beginning to build something special, and I think the Spar Proteas will be a force to be reckoned with in the next couple of years.
“We are looking towards the Netball World Cup in 2027, but the next big thing is the Commonwealth Games in 14 months. We are aiming for a place in the semifinals, and to do that, we must beat one of the big four, so it’s important that we play these teams.”
Jamaica are ranked third in the world and showed the South Africans the levels they have to reach to beat the best.
“We have learned so much about our players and their potential in this series. The amount of experience our young players have gained from playing in this very tough series has been invaluable.”
Proteas captain Khanyisa Chawane said it had been an amazing series.
“We got off to a very good start, winning the African Championship, and we needed a challenge. The series was a learning curve for each one of us, as well as for the team. I think we showed a lot of character and grit, and we also confirmed our love for the game of netball,” said Chawane.
The Proteas move on to the UK next week for the Nations Cup against England, Uganda, and Malawi.
Goal attack Nicola Smith, who injured her wrist in the first match in Jamaica, will be replaced by Syntiche Kabuya.
Meanwhile, the Proteas Under-21s had an impressive clean sweep in their series against the Jamaica Under-21s, which is great preparation for the Netball Youth World Cup in Gibraltar in September.
“We learnt a lot of lessons from the series. I am very pleased with the way the girls listened to instructions and followed them,” said Proteas U21 head coach Precious Mthembu.