Netball World Cup 2023: Africa brings 'energy, joy and colour' to event
- Published
Uganda finished as the top African side, edging out hosts South Africa to claim fifth spot at the 2023 Netball World Cup
Netball in South Africa and across the African continent is being tipped for growth following the successful hosting of the 16th edition of the World Cup that ended in Cape Town on Sunday.
The 10-day quadrennial tournament, held in the city's International Convention Centre, has been hailed by Dame Liz Nicol, president of governing body World Netball.
"Every World Cup is different," said Nicol. "Each has its own spirit and for this one, the energy, the joy, the colour and support from Africa has been absolutely amazing. It's made it a very special event indeed."
The event dates back to 1963 when England held what was then called the World Netball Championships. This year saw Africa host for the first time and, from a commercial point of view, it was certainly a success.
"Every World Cup has its own business model," added Nicol.
"Some focus on ticket sales, others on commercial sponsorship. This World Cup has had the best combination ever of sponsorship and international broadcast sales, so it's been a real step up for World Netball and the World Cup."
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa presented Australia captain Liz Watson with the Netball World Cup trophy after their victory over England in the final
Presidential seal of approval
As part of the tournament's legacy, all nine South African provinces will receive an international-standard sprung wooden floor.
But the benefits are not limited solely to South Africa.
"Botswana, Malawi and Ghana will also receive a wooden floor that will enable us to take international netball across the continent for the first time," said World Netball chief executive Clare Briegal, describing the move as "significant".
"The legacy programme run by Netball South Africa also helped to teach more people to be umpires, coaches and educators."
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa, who presented the trophy to 12-time winners Australia after they beat England in the final, has described himself as "a new fan" after watching games earlier in the competition on television.
He has promised to build a specialised netball-exclusive arena as part of continuing efforts to grow the game.
Bongi Msomi, who captained South Africa's Proteas to sixth place, is confident the World Cup - which was broadcast on free-to-air television across the country - will increase participation.
"This World Cup will do so much," said the 35-year-old, who is her nation's all-time record appearance holder.
"Seeing young kids come through and actually looking forward to taking up the sport, that's just fantastic.
"What we do here, it's not only about us but what it is going to do long-term for those who are looking up to us. This Netball World Cup is also for kids to strive to take our sport really seriously and take it as a career one day."
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African nations tipped for future success
On the court, the four African countries who formed part of the 16-team competition - South Africa, Malawi, Uganda and Zimbabwe - showed encouraging growth as they continue to slowly close the gap between themselves and the traditional powerhouses of Australia, New Zealand and England.
Indeed, Uganda recorded a best-ever finish after beating the hosts 49-47 in the play-off for fifth place.
Nicol says African teams have grown into a formidable force in the global game.
She added: "When you look at the world rankings, there is a group of African nations that are in positions four to eight (South Africa, Malawi and Uganda) and they are all performing incredibly well. They are all improving and I anticipate it won't be long before you actually see some of those nations creeping up into the top-four places."
Briegal has revealed some of the funds generated by the World Cup will be used to fuel the World Netball Development Programme.
She said: "In Africa we have a regional development manager who was deployed 15 years ago. She works with all of our regions to identify their needs.
"Income from the World Cup is deployed back to our members and the commercial success means we can do more than we've done before."