SPAR Protea, Zanele Vimbela is back in South Africa and playing in the Telkom Netball League. Pic: Facebook

A number of SPAR Proteas stars have returned from gaining experience with overseas clubs and leagues and are now keen to share what they have learnt.

Former SPAR Proteas player, Phumza Maweni who is now the Assistant Coach for the Baby SPAR Proteas, has returned home after a four-year stint in the Suncorp Super League in Australia, she joined the Southern Stings before hanging up her playing boots.
 
“Having played with some of the best players in the world and in a professional set up, I can attest to the fact that the local Telkom Netball League (TNL) is just as competitive. I can safely conclude that we have the best semi-professional netball league, and we can be proud of what we have here. Others thought because I have all the international experience, I will just walk into the starting seven, I had to earn my place like any other player because it is that competitive. We can give a few teams in Australia and England a run for their money with our TNL teams,” said Phumza Maweni. 

Another notable returnee to the Telkom Netball League is Zanele Vimbela who has featured for the SPAR Proteas on several occasions. She is back after two stints in England. She came back for the first time in 2020 and joined the Gauteng Fireballs after a year in the UK. She left shortly after the 2020 season and made a return to South Africa again in 2024 to join the reigning champions, Jaguars.
 
She said “It is good to be back and I must admit that it is a different competitive environment – abroad we played weekly and here back at home we are playing daily, games are faster, and one needs to adjust to it as quickly as possible, I think I have settled in though. There is a lot that we can do to improve the game and the format, for example play weekly and include gym and training sessions in between. This will help with keeping players well-conditioned. Hopefully as we turn professional, such things will be implemented. One thing that I think we should explore is more exposure to teams as well.” 

Karla Pretorius, regarded one of the best world players to have come out of South Africa has also made a return back home after spending seven years in Australia in the Suncorp Super League.  Pretorius is part of the recently announced 2024 SPAR Proteas squad.

“Coming back to wear the turquoise dress has been nothing short of amazing, it felt good doing that after an eight-year absence. Playing in front of a home crowd against South African players is just as great. I am thrilled to be back home, seeing how the game has evolved is utterly amazing. There is definitely a step up in competitiveness from when I last played in the TNL. But there is still a lot that needs to be done to improve it more. Competitiveness will improve as skill improves, intensity increases and matches becomes more clinical,” said Karla Pretorius. 

One piece of advice that Karla left for young players with aspirations of playing abroad is “focus on the here and now, be the best you can be in your environment, team and in the TNL.”

Zanele Vimbela concluded “Keep working hard, remain true and honest to what you do, there are a lot of opportunities that will knock on your door if you do that. Now more than ever, we have a lot of overseas based teams and coaches that have access to the TNL matches which is good so just keep working hard at it – remain disciplined and consistent.”