Of an occasion not short of the fanfare quotient and hosted by South African sport’s de facto first lady, Kass Naidoo – the event makes a comeback with a change of rules which offer participants more exciting benefits.
The brand’s commitment to changing the perception of women’s sport and elevating the standard of netball has been raised to greater heights.
The Brutal Fruit Netball Premier League is the sport’s flagship competition in South Africa and underlines the phenomenal growth of the sport in recent years. Most importantly the fourth edition of the tournament indicates another step towards the goal of a fully professional Netball league.
The tournament has raised the profile of the sport and provided a solid platform for young women to display their talents at the various games across the country. The aim is for players to experience the best the league has to offer through showcasing their skills.
The rules have been further changed by ensuring everybody leaves the tourney a winner. For the first time since its inception, 2017 champions will get to travel to New Zealand to compete in the Super Club Championships. This once in a life time opportunity will afford them the experience to play at an international level and further enhance their skills.
The runners-up will walk away with a cash prize of R150 000.
As sponsors of the country’s first semi-professional netball league, Brutal Fruit, in partnership with Netball South Africa (NSA), has announced the introduction of the Brutal Fruit Study Programme which is aimed at affording players within the league an opportunity to further their studies.
The Brutal Fruit Study Programme is believed to be a breakthrough for the league’s holistic approach of delivering a league that focuses on the empowerment of female athletes.
“This programme will ensure that empowerment of the players remain our priority and that we are constantly working towards ensuring that the players showcase their skills, thus ensuring we develop fully integrated players,” said Marketing Manager for Redds & Brutal Fruit, Kudzi Mathabire.
In addition to this, 10 coaches selected from all the provinces will be invited to participate in the NSA Level 2 coaching course to be held later this year.
The course will introduce them to both practical and theoretical training developed by a long term coaching development pathway endorsed by NSA and SASCOC, and accredited by Coaching Association of South Africa (CASA), thus placing them in a good position to become assistant coaches and take their career to the next level.
Speaking at this year’s launch with the sporting code’s foremost administrators such as, NSA’s president, Mimi Mthethwa and CEO, Blanche de la Guerre looking on – Mathabire went on to expound that the league’s new focus reaffirmed her entity’s commitment and efforts to empower female athletes and to continue elevating the standard of the sport in South Africa.
“We’ve committed doing this through the Study Programme and also paying a weekly participation fee of R750.00 per player to further motivate players, but to also show our support and commitment to them.”
“We are fully committed to ensuring the empowerment of women in sport and will endeavour to continue finding creative ways of ensuring that we take this programme to greater heights, thus ensuring long term success,” weighed in Mathabire.
“We are thrilled at how well the league has done for the past four years and this is why we are encouraged by the new and exciting benefits that we will be implementing in the new season.”
The 2017 edition once again pits 10 provincial-based teams from all nine provinces against each other over eight weeks of intense competition.
Durban will host the first two weeks, followed by Cape Town and with the city of roses, Bloemfontein – set to host the last three weeks.
Durban:
Round 1: 21 – 23 April; Durban University of Technology.
Round 2: 28 – 30 April; Durban University of Technology.
Cape Town:
Round 3: 5 -7 May; Belhar Indoor Sports Centre.
Round 4: 12 – 14 May; Belville Velodrome.
Round 5: 19 – 21 May; Bellville Velodrome.
Bloemfontein:
Round 6: 26 – 28 May; Mangaung Indoor Sports Centre.
Round 7: 2 – 4 June; Mangaung Indoor Sports Centre.
Round 8: 10 – 11; Mangaung Indoor Sports Centre.
Tickets for these exciting brutal games are available for sale onsite at R20 per person.
