EXCLUSIVE: Luus hails rise of women’s sport in South Africa ahead of World Cup

There was a time when women’s sport in South Africa existed largely in the shadows — underfunded, underrepresented and often undervalued. But in recent years, that landscape has begun to change in powerful and visible ways.

Across various sporting codes, South African women are not only breaking through barriers but also rewriting history.

In cricket, the Proteas Women became the first-ever South African cricket team to reach the final of an ICC event when they faced Australia Women in the 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final at Newlands. A year later, the side proved their achievement was no fluke, reaching another final in the United Arab Emirates, where they narrowly lost to the New Zealand Women’s team.

In football, Banyana Banyana have been dominant in African women’s football, and similarly, the Springbok Women have been on an upward trajectory.

As the country builds toward Women's Month In August, Proteas Women's all-rounder and former captain Sune Luus believes that women's sport in the country is in good hands.

"There's been lots of growth. It's been awesome to see South Africa getting behind women's sport, not just women's cricket," Luus told Independent Media in an exclusive interview.

"I think there's always going to be work to be done, and we will always want to keep improving and keep growing to catch up to other countries. But it's awesome to see so many companies, as well as people and brands, getting behind women's players.

"Cricket South Africa has helped our team and the pipeline to get to this point where we can say we've been to two finals already.

"It's something we've always dreamt about and never really thought it could be a reality. So, it's amazing to see just the time and effort that's been put into women's cricket."

Luus and the majority of her Proteas Women's teammates are currently in camp, preparing for the upcoming ODI World Cup in India and Sri Lanka from lat September.

In the current Women's set-up are Annerie Dercksen, Karabo Meso, Miane Smit and Ayanda Hlubi, to name a few, a set of youngsters that have made a seamless transition to international cricket, a feat that is directly linked to the professionalisation of Women's cricket two years ago.

With the abundance of exceptional young talent breaking into the national team, experienced players such as Luus don't have to carry all the weight following the retirements of key players, including Shabnim Ismail, over the last couple of years.

"It's a bit different to a couple of years ago, where it was kind of the same team for a very long time. I think it just speaks to the growth of women's cricket in South Africa. There are so many young girls coming through and so many talented young girls coming through," Luus said.  

"It's awesome to see the likes of Annerie scoring her first hundred in her first couple of years of playing, where some of us kind of waited a few years to do that. So, it just speaks to the domestic structures and everything working so well to actually give these girls the best chance when they get to the setup.

"Miane's 50 as well in her first T20. It's ridiculous to know that that's what they can do now, but that's just the platform that we've set. I think it's a good balance for the World Cup.

"You can't always rely on your senior players.

"Everyone is human, so you need a whole, balanced team with that youth. So, it's awesome to have them and to see them actually growing in this space and becoming good cricketers already."