SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Fast 5s Netball Challenge Southern Regional Saturday 3 August

A smiling Shayamoya shone at the KZN Southern Regional as they defended their title in the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Fast 5s Netball Challenge that took place at King Edward High School in Matatiele on Saturday 3 August.

In a flamboyant display of sensational netball, Shayamoya Area Secondary School dominated from the very first whistle of their nine game path to victory. In the concluding game, they met host school King Edward High School, this is the second year in a row that the two teams have taken each other on in the regional final.

The defending champs took 12 seconds to open up their account in an exhilarating game of aerial onslaughts, exceptional groundwork, thrilling intercepts and sure-fire passes that constantly fed their forwards. The towering and agile attackers, Asiphe Manyaba, Esethu Mbele and Snegugu Gamede had a fantastic day in the circle pocketing 26 goals in the final against King Edward. The local team fought hard against the visitors but only managed to net 6 goals.

Leading up to the final, the Kokstad based school played in seven round robin games, followed by a semi-final and then the all-important regional final. The crowd favourites had a total of 159 goals and only allowed their opponents to slip in a total of 39.

The path to the finals, Shayamoya finished the round robin stage on top of the log with 21 points and seven wins. King Edward ended in second place on 16 points followed by St Monica's Diocesan School and Mthatha High School on 10 points. In the first semi-final Shayamoya met Mthatha where the final score was 17 – 5 to Shayamoya, and in the second semi-final King Edward played neighbouring school, St Monica’s with the home team taking the win 14 –

The next regional heads to St Henry’s Marist College for the Durban Central Regional on Saturday 25 August, followed by the Highway Regional taking place on Saturday 31 August at Hillcrest Hi

Matrics participating in the netball, also have the opportunity of winning a bursary that is valued at R74,000 through eta College in Durban.

Those unable to make it courtside, can catch all the games on SuperSport Schools website or App.

Finals Result

Shayamoya Area Secondary School 26 vs King Edward High School 6

Semi-Finals Results

Shayamoya Area Secondary School 17 vs Mthatha High School 5

Kings Edward High School 14 vs St Monica's Diocesan School 6

Round Robin Results

1 Shayamoya Area Secondary School, 2 King Edward High School, 3 St Monica's Diocesan School, 4 Mthatha High School, 5 Kokstad College, 6 iXopo High School, 7 St Thomas Residential School, 8 Bergview College

SPAR KZN Schoolgirl’s Fast 5s Netball Challenge Northern KZN Regional 27 August

It was a joyous celebration for Dundee High School as they were crowned champions of the KZN Northern Regional at the SPAR KZN Schoolgirl’s Fast 5s Netball Challenge that took place at Ferrum High School on Saturday 27 August.

Dundee met Vryheid’s hard-working Pionier Hoërskool in the regional final that concluded with Dundee netting 10 points to Pionier’s 7. 

Pionier got the final underway with Cay-Li Birkenstock scoring the game’s first goal just 22 seconds in. 19 seconds later, Thandolwethu Buthelezi equalised at the other end for Dundee. The first quarter of the final ping-ponged between the two poles, with Pionier powering down their favoured left side and scoring then Dundee sending play right back up and equalising. 

Nearing 4 minutes left in the first half, Dundee missed their chance to equalize giving Pionier the edge with the scoreline sitting at 4-3. Birkenstock adding two more to her tally and Simone van Jaarsveld getting her name on the scorers’ card. Both teams went into a dry spell with attempts on either end frustratingly hitting the rim or being intercepted. 

Dundee broke the spell with 99 seconds left of the half as Buthelezi snatched the ball mid-air with her long right arm, and calmly popped the ball through the hoop, levelling the score at 4 all. 90 seconds later, she again magiced up a one-handed mid-air retrieval and confidently deposited the ball through the hoop for her, and Dundee’s fifth goal. 

Pionier opened up the second half with van Jaarsveld earning her team’s fifth, 87 seconds in. Pionier dominated the next 90 seconds of play with several bursts up to Dundee’s goals but were unable to find the center of hoop. Dundee’s Buthelezi got another opportunity taking the lead again, and 50 seconds later she added another point for her team. With just over 3 minutes until the final whistle, Mele Erlank managed to net Pionier’s sixth goal to Dundee’s seven. 

Two quick fire goals by Buthelezi saw the Dundee girls get a bounce in their step as their confidence began to soar. Captain for Dundee, Zinita Oosthuizen up’ed her game at the back, with two towering challenges as she leaped into the air, solidly knocking down Pionier’s looping attempts. Erlank managed to find a gap and net her second taking Pionier’s final score to 7, while Dundee wrapped up the game with 10 points, all scored by Buthelezi.

Dundee’s Oosthuizen said after the game, “The final was very challenging, Pionier are a tough team to beat but we are thankful that we had the ability to play against them and took the win. I am so blessed to have a team like mine.”

In their earlier round robin meeting, an undefeated Pionier took the win in a low scoring game 4 to 1. 

Coach for Dundee, Smangaye Nkwanyana stated, “Today was hard, we came into the tournament being slightly unfit as our season had wrapped up and the girls have been concentrating on exams, but all in all we are happy. Taking on Pionier again, having lost to them in the round robin, was tough. We were nervous going in but dug deep and did our best with our youngest in the team, 15 year old Thandolwethu doing so well.”

The fifth regional heads down to Kokstad College for the KZN Southern Regional on Saturday 10 September. All games will be live streamed on the SuperSport Schools mobile app or their website. 

Medal Game

1 Dundee High School, 2 Pionier Hoërskool

Round Robin Results

1 Pionier Hoërskool 21 points, 2 Dundee High School 18 points, 3 Ferrum Hoërskool 15 points, 4 Newcastle High School 10 points, 5 Sarel Cilliers School 9 points, 6 Amajuba District School 4 points, 7 Amajuba School 3 points, 8 St Dominic’s 2 points

ENDS