Netball League (South Africa)

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Telkom Netball League
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event Telkom Netball 2024
SportNetball
Founded2014
First season2014
No. of teams15
Country South Africa
TitlesTelkom Netball League Division 2
Most recent
champion(s)		Gauteng Jaguars (2023) (6th title)
(2024)
Most titlesGauteng Jaguars (6 titles)
Current Supporters' ShieldKZN Kingdom Stars
(2024 Telkom Netball League Division 2)
Current shieldTelkom Netball League Division 2
TV partner(s)SuperSport (South Africa)
Sponsor(s)Telkom
Official websitehttps://netball-sa.co.za/telkom-netball-league/

The Netball League of South Africa (known for sponsorship purposes as the Telkom Netball League) is the leading semi-professional netball league in South Africa.

History

Logo of the league when it was sponsored by Brutal Fruit

On 16 April 2014, Netball South Africa announced that the first semi-professional netball league ever to play in Africa would be launched. Juicing company Brutal Fruit (subsidiary of South African Breweries) were signed as the league's naming-rights sponsor for five years, ensuring the competition would be known as the Brutal Fruit Netball Cup. Ahead of the 2019 competition the sponsorship deal expired and the league was sponsored by Telkom.[1] The inaugural championship was contested by 10 teams from all nine South African provinces, played over a five-week period. The top five provincial teams formed Division 1, with the remainder forming Division 2. The first competition ran from 10 May 2014 to 7 June 2014. All matches were held in the Rembrandt Hall at the University of Pretoria and were broadcast live on SuperSport.[2]

The Free State Crinums won the inaugural Brutal Fruit Netball Cup, beating the Gauteng Jaguars 40-36 in a match that went into overtime.[3] Western Cape's Southern Stings won the Division 2 Shield of the Brutal Fruit Netball Netball in its inaugural year, beating KZN Kingdom Stars 39-31 in the final match.[4][5][6]

In 2019 the league consisted of 10 teams split into two divisions. Three other teams whose results were not included were added; the Presidents Smileys, a team made up of national team players based in South Africa, the President’s Stars which is a male only team, competing only in exhibition matches and the Zimbabwe national team used the league as preparation for the World Cup.[7] The 2019 championship was won by the Gauteng Jaguars, their third title in the competition.[8]

In 2020 the league expanded to 12 teams, split into two divisions of six. At the end of the season a promotion and relegation playoff match between the bottom team from Division 1 and the top team Division 2 is played. The 2020 season was won by the Jaguars.[9]

In 2023, the league was played at Ngwako Ramatlhodi Sports Complex in Polokwane from 27 April -1 May 2023 and Heartfelt Arena in Pretoria from 2 June -1 July 2023. The Gauteng Jaguars lifted their sixth Division 1 title with a 59-51 win over the Free State Crinums.[10] The Limpopo Baobabs won their maiden Division 2 title with a 65-40 win over the Western Cape Tornados.[11]

In 2024, the league was hosted by the City of Johannesburg from the 26 April - 19 June 2024 at Ellis Park Area.[12] In Division 1, the Free State Crinums defeated defending champions Gauteng Jaguars 47-46 to lift their fourth title. KZN Kingdom Stars won Division Two with a 37-35 win over the Eastern Cape Aloes.[13]

Teams and rules

All matches in the league are played according to prevailing International Netball Federation (INF) rules. Points are awarded as follows:

  • Win = 2 points
  • Draw = 1 point
  • Lose = 0 points

The duration of each match is one hour, consisting of four quarters of 15 minutes each.

Current teams

  • Correct as of 2023
Division Province Team
1 Gauteng Jaguars
1 Western Cape Stings
1 North West Flames
1 Free State Crinums
1 Gauteng Golden Fireballs
1 Eastern Cape Aloes
1 Limpopo Baobabs
2 KZN Kingdom Stars
2 Mpumalanga Sunbirds
2 Northern Cape Diamonds
2 Western Cape Tornadoes
2 KZN Queens
2 Eastern Cape Comets
2 Free State Sonoblomo
2 Limpopo Lillies

Division I winners

Year Winners Runners-Up Ref
2014 Free State Crinums Gauteng Jaguars [14]
2015 Free State Crinums Gauteng Jaguars [15]
2016 Free State Crinums Gauteng Jaguars [16]
2017 Gauteng Jaguars
2018 Gauteng Jaguars Western Cape Southern Stings
2019 Gauteng Jaguars Western Cape Southern Stings [8]
2020 Gauteng Jaguars Free State Crinums [9]
2021 Gauteng Jaguars
2022 Gauteng Golden Fireballs Gauteng Jaguars
2023 Gauteng Jaguars Free State Crinums [10]
2024 Free State Crinums Gauteng Jaguars

Division II winners

Year Winners Runners-Up Ref.
2014 Western Cape Southern Stings KZN Kingdom Stars [4]
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019 KZN Kingdom Stars [17]
2020 Eastern Cape Aloes
2021
2022
2023 Limpopo Baobabs Western Cape Tornados [11]
2024 KZN Kingdom Stars Eastern Cape Comets [13]

References

  1. ^ "South Africa's semi-professional netball tournament continues thanks to a new corporate partner". Pretoria East Rekord. 3 May 2019.
  2. ^ Retrieved 08/01/2015
  3. ^ brutaladmin (8 June 2014). "Free State Clinch Final In Extra Time Thriller". Brutal Fruit Netball Cup. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  4. ^ a b brutaladmin (7 June 2014). "Southern Stings Win Netball Shield". Brutal Fruit Netball Cup. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  5. ^ "SA Netball goes professional with Brutal Fruit". SAB Stories. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  6. ^ Netball South Africa (30 September 2014). "Netball teams announced for potchefstroom's spar international series - Netball South Africa". Netball-sa.co.za. Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  7. ^ "Fixtures for the 2019 Telkom Netball League". Netball South Africa. Facebook. 1 May 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Jaguars roar to another Telkom Netball League title". Run Ride Dive. 9 June 2019.
  9. ^ a b "Jaguars Win Fourth Telkom Netball League Title And Stars Retain Division A Position". Netball South Africa. 27 October 2020.
  10. ^ a b SA, Netball (2 July 2023). "Jaguars Lift Sixth Telkom Netball League Trophy". gsport4girls. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Baobabs win historic Netball League Division 2 title". SuperSport. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  12. ^ Contributor, gsport (9 April 2024). "Joburg Welcomes Telkom Netball League into the City". gsport4girls. Retrieved 19 June 2024. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  13. ^ a b Contributor, gsport (19 June 2024). "Kingdom Stars Win Telkom Netball League Division 2 Title in Johannesburg". gsport4girls. Retrieved 19 June 2024. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  14. ^ "2014 Brutal Fruit Netball Cup". Netball Scoop Archive. 10 June 2014.
  15. ^ "2015 Brutal Fruit Netball Premier League". Netball Scoop Archive. 8 June 2015.
  16. ^ "2016 Brutal Fruit Netball Premier League". Netball Scoop Archive. 29 May 2016.
  17. ^ SA, Netball (7 June 2019). "Jaguars Cruise to Third Consecutive Netball League Title". gsport4girls. Retrieved 19 June 2024.

External links

Retrieved from "https://mdwiki.org/wiki/Netball_League_(South_Africa)"