{"id":58424,"date":"2024-09-19T18:32:53","date_gmt":"2024-09-19T16:32:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/?p=58424"},"modified":"2024-09-19T18:32:53","modified_gmt":"2024-09-19T16:32:53","slug":"kovsies-ready-to-thrive-in-front-of-home-crowd-for-final-varsity-netball-bumper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/more-sport\/kovsies-ready-to-thrive-in-front-of-home-crowd-for-final-varsity-netball-bumper\/","title":{"rendered":"Kovsies ready to thrive in front of home crowd for final Varsity Netball bumper"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the last round-robin matches of the 2024 Varsity Netball tournament set to take place at the Callie Human Hall in Bloemfontein on Sunday 22 September and Monday 23 September, UFS Kovsies are ready to dish up something special in front of their home crowd.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Traditionally packed to capacity, the venue\u2019s electric atmosphere adds an extra layer of excitement for the team, says Spar Protea and assistant coach Karla Pretorius.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe support we get from our fans is like having an eighth player on the court.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Spar Protea captain and assistant coach Khanyisa Chawane, KC for short, agrees.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing like the energy from the crowd, it pushes us to give our best.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Captain Refiloe Nketsa adds her voice to the chorus.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an honour to play in front of our home crowd. Their support means everything to us.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kovsies have one foot in the semi-final thanks to their position in the top four on the log. Not that they plan to lift their foot from the pedal, on the contrary, they thrive under pressure as the team believes it\u2019s the fuel that drives them.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the court, they\u2019re not just playing to win, they are playing to build a lasting legacy. With a record of four Varsity Netball titles, former national coaches at the helm and a high-performance environment, the Kovsies are primed for another thrilling Varsity Netball campaign.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pretorius says she is excited to watch the younger players rise to the occasion.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot wait to see what they achieve in the future.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to KC, this Kovsies team has the potential to make history with any of the players who could one day wear the Protea jersey.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the tough environment they take to court, Pretorius says:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur athletes are motivated by pressure. We prepare them not just to handle it, but to thrive because of it. It\u2019s not about avoiding pressure but using it to sharpen our focus.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This takes a lot of training and on the UFS campus, every session is held in a high-performance environment. The training camps on campus take a holistic approach, mirroring the professional demands of national-level competition.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about passing the torch to the next generation, we want them to carry forward the legacy of Kovsie netball,\u201d says KC.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nketsa believes the team\u2019s preparation goes beyond drills and strategies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur training camps have been crucial in defining our purpose. The legacy of this team, combined with the guidance from our coaches, gives us immense confidence. Pressure isn\u2019t something we fear, it\u2019s something we embrace.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the last round-robin matches of the 2024 Varsity Netball tournament set to take place at the Callie Human Hall in Bloemfontein on Sunday 22 September and Monday 23 September, UFS Kovsies are ready to dish up something special in front of their home crowd.\u00a0 Traditionally packed to capacity, the venue\u2019s electric atmosphere adds an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58429,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1893],"class_list":["post-58424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-more-sport","tag-varsity-netball"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}