Netball SA congratulates Uganda and Zambia
Netball SA on Thursday (09/10/2014) congratulated Uganda and Zambia following their qualification for next year's Netball World Cup in Sydney.
The fellow African teams joined the Proteas and Malawi as Africa's representatives at the International showpiece, where 16 nations would compete for the world title.
"We are very proud of our African sister federations Zambia and Uganda for making it to the World Cup," NSA president Mimi Mthethwa said in a statement.
"Netball on the continent continues to make giant strides and we are sure of putting in a good showing for Africa."
After the INF World Rankings were released in July, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, England, Jamaica, and Malawi all gained automatic qualification as the top six nations.
The other competing nations were Wales, Scotland, Fiji, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Singapore, Sri Lanka.
Mthethwa said her federation would provide Proteas coach Elize Kotze and her team the support they needed to enable them to put on a display worthy of capturing netball's most prestigious prize.
"I can assure you that we are not going to Sydney to make up the numbers. We are going there to compete for the World Cup and establish South Africa as one of the dominant players on the global stage.
"We have mass participation, elite players and a world class league.
"Winning the World Cup would put netball on the map and would be another step towards a fully professional netball circuit in South Africa."
Kotze said she was happy for the fellow African nations.
"Uganda and Zambia showed last year at the Africa Cup in Malawi, they are teams to be reckoned with in the future," Kotze said.
"The gap between scores against the top African countries decreased and they played with more confidence and consistency.
"For Africa to have four of the 16 teams participating at the World Cup is not only a great achievement for netball but also for all women in Africa. These women of Africa are unstoppable in fighting for their goals and dreams." - Sapa
