The Proteas netball team is set to have a change in coaching staff ahead of their trip Down Under to take on world champions Australia in December.
The South African national team will have a change in guard as Norma Plummer will relinquish her role as head coach of the team.
Netball South Africa president Cecilia Molokwane told SABC Sport that two local coaches will lead the team for the Aussie series.
After the Netball World Cup Plummer said she wasn’t sure what he role would be after the tournament as she was yet to speak to the netball bosses at the time.
"There's two coaches that will be travelling with the teams – one will be going to Australia, when the time is right, we'll announce it," said Molekwane.
“And the other one will be going to England because we want them to work with Norma closely, we don't want to repeat the mistakes of 2019 of just saying, 'Norma, go,' and then we give a coach that (set-up).”
"We want that succession plan to say, 'This is where I was, this is where I was intending to go, and this is where I saw the future with the team, and it's whether you take it or not, but this is how we were doing things. This is the culture within the team.'"
For now, Netball SA is keeping its cards close to its chest and won’t revealing just who will be taking over from Plummer, who is considered as one of the most success netball players and coaches.
"As I'm saying, there's one coach who's going with the team now, and we will announce soon who the coach is [that will be] joining the team management that went to the World Cup," she added.
"We've not changed anything, we said, 'Let them go and finish' because their contracts are ending in December, so we said, 'Let it all end in December.' But we're saying this succession plan is key and crucial for us.
“Charles [Baloyi] will tell you that it was my wish to have a South African coach for the World Cup [2023], unfortunately things didn't go the way we anticipated, but, of course, it's a South African coach (coming in).”
South Africa last met their Australian opponents in January during the 2023 Quad Series in Cape Town, but they never got a chance to play against each other during the 2023 Netball World Cup at the same venue.
The Proteas managed a sixth place finish at the recent Netball World Cup held in Cape Town.
Proteas team for Australia series: Khanyisa Chawane; Boitumelo Mahloko; Kamogelo Maseko; Phumza Maweni; Bongiwe Msomi (Captain); Owethu Ngubane; Refiloe Nketsa; Karla Pretorius; Lefébre Rademan; Jeanté Strydon; Nicola Smith; Jamie van Wyk; Elmeré van der Berg; Ine-Marí Venter; Nicholé Taljaard
IOL Sport