The country’s netball teams are once more infused with NWU spices, with current and former students whose names are found on all the lists of national teams.

For a number of years now the NWU has been known to feed the Protea team, with even their current coach, Dorette Badenhorst, having honed her skills so successfully at the NWU.

Alumni from the NWU currently in the Protea group are Monique Reyneke, Simone Rabie, Zigi Burger, Renske Stoltz, and Rome Joubert (née Dreyer). Then there are Didi Keebine and Jessica du Plessis in the SA A team, while the national under 21 team boasts Lucy Strydom, Kailah Ferreira, Adivhaho Tshivhiahuvhi, and Elmeré van der Berg. In addition to that the NWU’s head coach, Elsunette du Plessis, was rated a Level 3 coach recently. This is Netball South Africa’s highest rating level.

“What NWU netball means for the country is that we are a pacesetter. We compete with universities that can draw from very large pools, but the reason why we are doing so well, is our coaching staff, who are our core. Two national coaches have been part of the club already, and the passion of our current coach, Elsunet du Plessis, does so much for the spirit of the club. The fact that we deliver so many national players is just unbelievable,” explains Heléne Botha, women’s sports manager on the Potchefstroom Campus.

More than the NWU’s list of achievements, the players and coaches are the people who make Botha most proud.  

“Just saying that I am proud, is putting it mildly. In the 18 years that I have been part of this club, I realise time and again how proud we can be of the people we send out into the world. Their humanity and what they put back into the sport are what makes our hearts beat with joy.”