Varsity Netball

Varsity Netball is a netball league featuring teams representing universities in South Africa. It was formed in 2013. UFS Kovsies were the inaugural winners and they remain the league's most successful team, having won five titles. It is one of several similar sports competitions that form the Varsity Sports series. Others include leagues for men's football, women's football, field hockey, men's rugby union, and women's rugby union.^[2]

Varsity Netball

Sport	Netball
Founded	2013
No. of teams	8
Country	South Africa
Most recent champion(s)	UFS Kovsies (5th title)
Most titles	UFS Kovsies (5 titles)
Broadcaster(s)	SuperSport[1]
Sponsor(s)	First National Bank Suzuki[1]
Official website	Varsity Netball

History

UFS Kovsies

In 2013, UFS Kovsies won the inaugural tournament. With a team captained by Maryka Holtzhausen, they defeated NWU-Pukke 44–40 in the final.^[3][4] They won further titles in 2014, 2018, and 2021.^[5] In 2024, UFS Kovsies won their fifth title, after defeating UJ Netball 58–55 in the final.^[6][7][8]

UFS Kovsies are closely associated with Free State Crinums of the Telkom Netball League. In 2018, 2019 and 2020, Crinums were a de facto Kovsie team. The vast majority of their squad members, including Lefébre Rademan and Khanyisa Chawane, were University of the Free State students. Crinums head coach, Burta de Kock, was also the head coach of Kovsies.^[9][10][11]

NWU-Pukke

In 2015 and 2016, with teams featuring Sigrid Burger, Renske Stoltz and Jeanté Strydom, NWU-Pukke won two successive titles. In 2015, after finishing the regular season in fourth place, they eliminated two-time defending champions, UFS Kovsies, in semi-final before going onto defeat Maties 50–37 in the final. In 2016 they retained the title following a narrow 56–55 win over UP-Tuks.^[12][13][14]

UP-Tuks

In 2017, after finishing as runners-up in 2014 and 2016, UP-Tuks and won their first title. Their winning team was coached by Jenny van Dyk, captained by Shadine van der Merwe and featured Marlize de Bruin and Ine-Marí Venter. In the final, they defeated NWU-Pukke 43–41.^{[15][16][17][18]} In 2019, UP-Tuks won their second title, this time defeating Maties 48–43 in the final.^[19][20] In 2023, UP-Tuks won their third title after defeating UJ Netball 63–61 in the final.^[21][22][23]

UP-Tuks are closely associated with Gauteng Jaguars. Since 2017, Jaguars have been winning Premier Netball League titles. The core of their team is made up of UP-Tuks players. Jenny van Dyk, served as head coach of both UP-Tuks and Jaguars.^[24][25]

Teams

Team	University	Home venue	TNL partner
UFS Kovsies Netball[5]	University of the Free State	Callie Human Hall	Free State Crinums
UJ Netball[26]	University of Johannesburg		Gauteng Golden Fireballs[27][28]
Madibaz Netball[29]	Nelson Mandela University	Madibaz Sports Centre	Eastern Cape Aloes[30]
NWU Netball Pukke[31]	North-West University	NWU Mafikeng Great Hall	North West Flames
UP-Tuks Netball[32]	University of Pretoria	Rembrandt Hall	Gauteng Jaguars
Maties Netball	Stellenbosch University	Coetzenburg Indoor Arena
TUT Netball	Tshwane University of Technology
Wits Netball[33]	University of the Witwatersrand	Wits Sports Hall

Sources:^[7][34]

Finals

Season	Winners	Score	Runners Up	Venue
2013[3][4]	UFS Kovsies	44–40	NWU-Pukke	Potchefstroom
2014[35][36][37]	UFS Kovsies	49–42	UP-Tuks	Rembrandt Hall
2015[12][38][39]	NWU-Pukke	50–37	Maties	Coetzenburg Indoor Arena
2016[13][14]	NWU-Pukke	56–55	UP-Tuks	Rembrandt Hall
2017[15][16][17]	UP-Tuks	43–41	NWU-Pukke	Rembrandt Hall
2018[40][41]	UFS Kovsies	63–59	UP-Tuks	Bloemfontein
2019[19][20]	UP-Tuks	48–43	Maties	Rembrandt Hall
2020	(Note 1)
2021[42][43][44]	UFS Kovsies	55–39	Maties	Coetzenburg Indoor Arena
2022[45][46]	Maties	68–55	NWU-Pukke	Coetzenburg Indoor Arena
2023[21][22][23]	UP-Tuks	63–61	UJ Netball	Rembrandt Hall
2024[6][7][8]	UFS Kovsies	58–55	UJ Netball	Callie Human Hall

Notes

• ^1 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa.

Source:^[2]

Notable players

Winning captains

Season	Team	Captains
2013[3][4]	UFS Kovsies	Maryka Holtzhausen
2014[36][47]	UFS Kovsies	Karla Mostert
2015
2016[13][14]	NWU-Pukke	Chante Bester
2017[15][16][17]	UP-Tuks	Shadine van der Merwe
2018[18][40]	UFS Kovsies	Alicia Puren
2019[19][20]	UP-Tuks	Tshina Mdau
2021[44]	UFS Kovsies	Sikholiwe Mdletshe
2022[45]	Maties	Sian Moore
2023[21][23]	UP-Tuks	Kamogelo Maseka
2024[8]	UFS Kovsies	Refiloe Nketsa

Player of the Tournament

Season	Team	Winners
2013[48]	UFS Kovsies	Ané Botha
2014[36][47]	UFS Kovsies	Karla Mostert
2015	UFS Kovsies	Karla Mostert
2016[13][14][49]	UP-Tuks	Shadine van der Merwe
2017[50]	UFS Kovsies	Khomotso Mamburu
2018[40][41]	UFS Kovsies	Khanyisa Chawane
2019[51]	UFS Kovsies	Lefébre Rademan
2021[42][43]	Maties	Nicholé Taljaard
2022[45]	NWU-Pukke	Elmeré van den Berg
2023[21][23]	NWU-Pukke	Sanmarie Visser
2024[6][8]	UFS Kovsies	Rolene Streutker

Internationals

 South Africa

Sigrid Burger Khanyisa Chawane Vanes-Mari du Toit Maryka Holtzhausen Shadine van der Merwe Lenize Potgieter

Karla Pretorius Lefébre Rademan Renske Stoltz Jeanté Strydom Nicholé Taljaard Ine-Marí Venter Rolene Streutker