Precious Mthembu praises Baby Proteas’ resilience in Telkom Netball League

Under-21 national netball team head coach, Precious Mthembu, praised the grit and resilience her players have shown in the first week of the Telkom Netball League, while admitting there were loopholes in attack they had to work on ahead of the Netball World Youth Cup.

The Spar Baby Proteas entered the country's premier netball competition as an invitation team to hone them for the World Cup in Gibraltar later this year. And it has been – mostly – mission accomplished for Mthembu and Co after the conclusion of Power Week 1 at the Sun City Superbowl in the North West Province at the weekend. 

“Looking back where I started with the team, from qualifiers to taking the girls to Jamaica and now, I’ve definitely seen the growth in the girls," she said.

“There’s a big difference between the girls who haven’t been with me and the ones who have been with me for quite a while. Obviously. we need to close that gap.

“From a coaching perspective, it’s just making sure we have equal amounts of abilities among all players. It’s to create that depth in the U21 squad, not only focusing on 15 players that we might be choosing for the World Cup but also managing them, as well as having enough players to pull in if we have any other injuries when we finally get into our 15 players."

The Baby Proteas had started the tournament with a 68-35 loss against the Gauteng Golden Fireballs, before recovering to beat the Easter Cape Aloes 57-47. A defeat against the Limpopo Baobabs was followed by a telling 62-51 win over fellow invitation side the Zambezi Eagles.

They rounded off Power Week 1 with losses against the Southern Stings and the North West Flames. However, it was not about the results for the junior national team. 

"It’s just allowing the whole country to be part of trials and seeing the girls, how they’re playing and not wondering who this certain player is and how did they make the final team," Mthembu revealed.

As a former player, the coach wasn't surprised by the level of competition in the North West.

“I think being a player who’s been at that level I knew what to expect. I know how TNL is played.

"I know the procedure, I know the intensity and how the games go. And being a player who has played internationally, I understand the value of recovery and making sure the girls are well rested.

“It’s definitely what I expected. And we had a two-day camp before we went to TNL, so we made sure the girls are mentally and physically ready so when they step on court.

“A couple of them have played TNL before, some have not, they’ve only played at a junior level. But the amount of grit and resilience the girls showed, the senior players were able to pull the others up so expectations are there, and I was really pleased with how they just took over.”

And what were some of takeaways after facing some of the best senior players in the country? 

“I’m very happy with our defence, the team defence," Mthembu said. “I think the next focus now is obviously on attack.

"There are a lot of loopholes there, and it’s something that I need to sit down and work on. I’ll be watching some videos of the games that we played and see where the gaps are and I think just giving each individual player their own report on how they went about the first week.

“So, now while they’re not playing I’ll be expecting them to try close those gaps and get better in their own play before we come back for Power Week 2."

The Baby Proteas' mentor said they would not drop any players for Power Week 2 in the middle of this month. She also left the door open for other qualifying players in the TNL who could still break into the squad.

"That’s also another good thing, that we are able to pull in some other players to see if they can give us something different.”

The 15 players for the World Cup will be announced in the final Power Week because the Baby Proteas are not part of the finals.