The University of the Free State’s (UFS) women’s netball team is on the hunt for its fifth Varsity Netball crown.
With two wins in the remaining important matches, the team will edge closer to that dream. These matches are against the University of Pretoria (UP-Tuks) and the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) on Sunday, 22 September, and Monday, respectively.
Wins will guarantee them a berth in the semifinal, set for 30 September, with the two winners thereof facing off in the final on 7 October.
Boasting four titles, the UFS women won the inaugural championship in 2013 and followed up the success by winning again in 2014 – then 2018, and most recently in 2021.
UP-Tuks is in second position as far as overall wins are concerned, with three titles (2017, 2019 and 2023), while the North-West University (NWU) Pukke is in third place with two crowns (2015 and 2016). The Stellenbosch University (SU) Maties last won in 2022.
The upcoming matches will end the campaign of at least four teams: those from position five and lower on the log in this competition featuring eight universities.
The Kovsie women are sitting pretty with 17 points, behind the undefeated University of Johannesburg (UJ), now in topping the log 20 points. Kovsies disposed of Maties with 56 – 45 and the Nelson Mandela University’s (NMU) Madibaz 79 – 26 in matches played on 9 and 16 September, to improve the prospects to claim the coveted trophy. After the only loss against UJ (46 – 51) on 8 September, the UFS girls have managed to dust off the cobwebs to launch a serious campaign to annex this year’s championship. They will extend to five the record if they win this year’s Varsity Netball crown.
