Netball South Africa (NSA) has announced that this year’s edition of the Telkom Netball League (TNL) is set to start on 27 April at the Ngoako Ramahlodi Sports Complex in Seshego, Polokwane.
The partnership between NSA and Telecommunications giant Telkom as a headline sponsor is now in its fifth year, a journey that began in 2019.
NSA President Cecilia Molokwane announced that this season’s competition has been expanded to 15 teams – with the inclusion of the Free State Sonneblomme and the Limpopo Lilies in the B Section.
Molokwane said she’s pleased with the growth of the league.
“I’m very proud of where we are with Telkom because when we started with the TNL we had 10 teams and now we have 15 teams in a short period of five years. There’s something right that we’re doing. We want more. We want to grow the sport and make sure that this sport is taken seriously, and it grows to the level it should be at,” Molokwane said.
In line with its commitment to drive the development of netball in South Africa Telkom have also renewed their partnership with Netball South Africa by a further three years effective from 01 April 2023.
Gugu Mthembu, Telkom’s chief marketing officer hailed the successful partnership with Netball SA over the past five years and affirmed their support for the growth of the sport.
“As proud sponsors of this year’s TNL, we look forward to yet another successful competition and ultimately continuing with the development of Netball in South Africa,” Mthembu said.
Minister of Sports Zizi Kodwa has pleaded with corporate South Africa to support women’s sport.
“The development of women’s sports is taking shape in SA, we need to get corporate SA to be a part of it, Telkom has done very well. Corporate SA has not supported women in sport, they’ve been on boycott for whatever reason, commercial interest could be one of the reasons, the issue of broadcasting rights has also denied South Africans access to witnessing their favourite sport”.
In the build up to the Netball World Cup which will be hosted on African soil for the first time, Telkom have thrown their weight as one of the premium sponsors of this global showpiece that will take place in July in Cape Town from 28 July-6 August.
SA are pitted in Group C along with Jamaica, Wales and Sri Lanka.
