2021 SPAR Challenge Series

The 2021 SPAR Challenge Series was the sixth Diamond Challenge netball series.. The series was played at the Cape Town International Convention Centre and broadcast live on SuperSport in South Africa. It was originally scheduled to be played in January 2021, however it was delayed due to a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa. It was eventually played in March 2021. It was effectively two separate series played alongside each other. South Africa, Namibia and Uganda played each other in a Tri Nations Series that earned them points on the World Netball Rankings. Meanwhile, two invitational teams, a Netball South Africa President's XII and the Baby Proteas played each other in a series of five matches. These two teams were basically the South Africa B and under-21 teams respectively.^[1][2][3][4] Both the South Africa and Uganda squads did not feature any players from the Netball Superleague, Suncorp Super Netball or the ANZ Premiership.^[4][5][6] South Africa won the Tri Nations Series, winning all six of their matches^[7][8] while the President's XII won their series against the Baby Proteas 4–1.^[9]

2021 SPAR Challenge Series

Tournament details
Host country	South Africa
City	Cape Town
Venue(s)	Cape Town International Convention Centre
Dates	24–31 March 2021
Teams	5
TV partner(s)	SuperSport (South Africa)
Final positions
Champions	South Africa
Runner-up	Uganda
Third place	Namibia
← 2018 2022 →

Head coaches and captains

Team	Head coach	Captain
South Africa	Dorette Badenhorst	Bongiwe Msomi
Namibia[10]	Julene Meyer	Jatjinda Kambatuku
Uganda[11]	Rashid Mubiru	Stella Oyella
President's XII	Jenny van Dyk
Baby Proteas	Elsje Jordaan

Sources:^[4][12][13]

Debuts

• On 25 March 2021, Nonsikelelo Mazibuko, Sian Moore, Nozipho Ntshangase, Simoné Rabie and Chantelle Swart all made their senior debuts for South Africa against Namibia.^[14]

Match officials

Umpires

Ranking Matches

Umpire	Association
Anso Kemp	South Africa
Elizna van den Berg	South Africa
Theresa Prince	South Africa
Chakatsa Lephole	Lesotho

Non-Ranking Matches

Umpire	Association
Salomé Britz	South Africa
Tharina Opperman	South Africa
Leonard Masao	South Africa
Theo Moletsane	South Africa

Umpire Appointments Panel

Umpire	Association
Annie Kloppers	South Africa
Marielouw van der Merwe	South Africa

Source:^[15]

Matches

Day 1

25 March 2021	South Africa	58–30	Namibia
10:00	Nonsikelelo Mazibuko  21/25 (84%) Sian Moore  23/27 (85%) Renske Stoltz  11/11 (100%) Chantelle Swart  3/7 (43%)		Anna Kaspar  23/28 (82%) Jatjinda Kambatuku  4/5 (80%) Rachalle Roetz  3/3 (100%)

25 March 2021	President's XII	56–42	Baby Proteas
14:00	Chanté Louw  40/51 (78%) Nicholé Taljaard  10/16 (63%) Talja Venter  1/1 (100%)		Rolene Streutker  27/31 (87%) Elmeré van der Berg  11/18 (61%) Lucy Strydom  4/8 (50%)

25 March 2021	South Africa	49–34	Uganda
14:00	Nonsikelelo Mazibuko  32/34 (94%) Renske Stoltz  17/24 (71%)		Irene Eyaru  19/20 (95%) Shadiah Nassanga  12/15 (80%) Stella Oyella  3/4 (75%)

Sources:^{[5][6][16][17]}

Day 2

26 March 2021	President's XII	54–49	Baby Proteas
16:00

26 March 2021	Uganda	49–28	Namibia
18:00

Sources:^[18][19]

Day 3

27 March 2021	Baby Proteas	45–59	Uganda
16:00

27 March 2021	South Africa	66–31	Namibia
18:00	Sian Moore  26/29 (90%) Nonsikelelo Mazibuko  16/17 (94%) Renske Stoltz  13/15 (87%) Chantelle Swart  11/14 (79%)		Anna Kaspar  14/15 (93%) Nanguloshi Kamutushi  2/2 (100%)

Sources:^[20][21]

Day 4

28 March 2021	Uganda	59–30	Namibia
10:00	Shadiah Nassanga  37/42 (88%) Irene Eyaru  22/23 (96%)		Anna Kaspar  17/19 (89%) Rachalle Roetz  8/9 (89%) Jatjinda Kambatuku  5/6 (83%)

Sources:^[22][23]

28 March 2021	Baby Proteas	48–41	President's XII
16:00

28 March 2021	South Africa	43–36	Uganda
18:00	Sian Moore  27/30 (90%) Renske Stoltz  16/21 (76%)		Shadiah Nassanga  20/24 (83%) Irene Eyaru  16/16 (100%)

Sources:^[24][25]

Day 5

29 March 2021	President's XII	52–46	Baby Proteas
16:00	Chanté Louw  26/36 (72%) Nicholé Taljaard  26/27 (96%)		Rolene Streutker  19/24 (79%) Elmeré van der Berg  15/19 (79%) Kamogelo Maseko  12/17 (71%)

Source:^[26]

29 March 2021	Uganda	57–27	Namibia
18:00

Source:^[27]

Day 6

30 March 2021	President's XII	38–36	Baby Proteas
16:00	Chanté Louw  24/35 (69%) Talja Venter  9/19 (47%) Alicia Puren  5/7 (71%)		Elmeré van der Berg  18/21 (86%) Rolene Streutker  11/14 (79%) Kamogelo Maseko  7/13 (54%)

30 March 2021	South Africa	59–26	Namibia
18:00	Nonsikelelo Mazibuko  25/30 (83%) Chantelle Swart  14/17 (82%) Sian Moore  14/14 (100%) Renske Stoltz  6/7 (86%)		Anna Kaspar  12/14 (86%) Kambatuku Jatjinda  11/17 (65%) Nanguloshi Kamutushi  3/7 (43%)

Sources:^[7][9]

Day 7

31 March 2021	President's XII	44–32	Namibia
14:00	Nomfundo Mngomezulu  16/19 (84%) Chanté Louw  14/24 (58%) Talja Venter  13/19 (68%) Jessica Robyn Du Plessis  0/1 (0%)		Anna Kaspar  20/26 (77%) Jatjinda Kambatuku  5/5 (100%) Nanguloshi Kamutushi  3/5 (60%) Rachalle Roetz  4/7 (57%)

31 March 2021	South Africa	44–32	Uganda
16:00	Sian Moore  26/33 (79%) Renske Stoltz  18/26 (69%)		Shadiah Nassanga  17/17 (100%) Irene Eyaru  15/18 (83%)

Sources:^[8][28][29]

Final table

Pos	Team	P	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	South Africa	6	6	0	0	319	201	118	12
2	Uganda	6	3	3	0	267	221	46	6
3	Namibia	6	0	6	0	172	348	–176	0

  Winners

Award winners

Award	Winner	Team
Player of the Series	Monique Reyneke	South Africa
Best Shooter	Irene Eyaru	Uganda
Best Mid Court	Bongiwe Msomi	South Africa
Best Defender	Joan Nampugu	Uganda

Sources:^[8][28][29]

References

1. "Netball South Africa suspends planned activities". netball-sa.co.za. 8 January 2021.
2. "Netball Set To Resume In South Africa". netball-sa.co.za. 8 February 2021.
3. "Fixtures: SPAR Challenge 25-31 March 2021". netball-sa.co.za. 16 March 2021.
4. "Rashid Mubiru: She Cranes coach eager to earn ranking points". kawowo.com. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
5. "Winning Start For SPAR Proteas". netball-sa.co.za. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
6. "SPAR Proteas Off to Winning Start in Cape Town". gsport.co.za. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
7. "Proteas Win SPAR Challenge with Match to Play". gsport.co.za. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
8. "Clean Sweep For The SPAR Proteas In The SPAR Challenge Series". netball-sa.co.za. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
9. "SPAR Proteas March On To The Finals Of The SPAR Challenge Series". netball-sa.co.za. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
10. "Namibia announces team for SPAR Challenge". netball-sa.co.za. 18 March 2021.
11. "Netball: 18 Make She Cranes Provisional Squad For Cape Town Test Series". chimpreports.com. 20 February 2020. Archived from the original on 9 March 2021.
12. "Two teams set for the SPAR Challenge confirmed". netball-sa.co.za. 15 December 2020.
13. "SPAR Proteas Teams Set For SPAR Challenge Confirmed". netball-sa.co.za. 18 March 2021.
14. "Admirable Performances by SPAR Proteas' New Caps". netball-sa.co.za. 8 April 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
15. "SPAR Challenge Umpires Appointed". netball-sa.co.za. 20 March 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
16. "SPAR Proteas gets the SPAR Challenge Tri Nations series off to a winning start". netball-sa.co.za. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
17. "SPAR Proteas have to fight for victory over Uganda She Cranes". netball-sa.co.za. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
18. "Uganda take the sparkle off the Namibian Debmarine Desert Jewels at SPAR Challenge". netball-sa.co.za. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
19. "Uganda 49-28 Namibia: She Cranes ease to first win at Spar Challenge". kawowo.com. 27 March 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
20. "SPAR Proteas continues with their dominance over Namibia". netball-sa.co.za. 27 March 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
21. "SPAR Proteas Maintain Tri-Nations Dominance". gsport.co.za. 28 March 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
22. "Another Victory For Uganda". netball-sa.co.za. 28 March 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
23. "Namibia 30-59 Uganda: She Cranes earn second win over Desert Jewels at Spar Challenge". kawowo.com. 28 March 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
24. "SPAR Proteas continues a clean sweep against Uganda". netball-sa.co.za. 28 March 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
25. "SPAR Proteas Secure Third Victory Over Uganda". gsport.co.za. 29 March 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
26. "President's XII Dominate The Baby SPAR Proteas". netball-sa.co.za. 29 March 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
27. "Spar Challenge: She Cranes complete sweep of Namibia, eye one over South Africa". kawowo.com. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
28. "She Cranes: Nampungu flies highest at Spar Challenge". kawowo.com. 1 April 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
29. "Clean Sweep Victory for Proteas in the SPAR Challenge Series". gsport.co.za. 1 April 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2024.