In their quest to help activate gaiety and bring the International Federation of Netball Associations Netball World Cup closer to the people in local communities, the Mathews Mpete Foundation, in collaboration with Motsepe Funeral Home in Mmakau, will this year turn their annual sports tournament in Ga-Rankuwa into a netball jamboree.
With just a couple of weeks before the games start on June 16, the tournament will comprise 16 teams from the communities of Ga-Rankuwa, Mmakau, Hebron and Nkwe Estate in Rosslyn.
All the teams have adopted countries that will be participating at the 2023 Netball World Cup and will play in the colours of their “adopted” countries.
The opening whistle for the Vitality World Cup will go off on July 28 and end on August 6 in Cape Town, where South Africa will be host to the prestigious quadrennial showpiece, where New Zealand will be out to defend the title they won in 2019.
The annual tournament will be held at the Netball Courts in Zone 1, Ga-Rankuwa, on June 16-17, and will double up as part of the nationwide festivities to commemorate Youth Day.
Not only netball will be under the spotlight on the day, but soccer, both males and females from Under-19 and Under-15, will take place at the dusty grounds of Ga-Rankuwa.
Road running (5km), which will be attended by Athletics Gauteng North president Hendrick Mokganyetsi, will also take place, as well as aerobics, tennis from Under-9s, and
cycling set for 17 June.
According to founder Mathews Mpete, they are proud to host their third event and are hoping it will be bigger than previous years, which was attended by Proteas assistant coach, Dumisani Chauke through her foundation, as well as Safa Tshwane president, Solly Mohlabeng.
“It is unfortunate that such a big event as the World Cup is hardly marketed in the country, especially in townships, but we keep calling on the youth to participate in the sport. The World Cup trophy was played in Tshwane from June 2, but it never reached either of the Pretoria townships.”
Mpete added that they are lucky this year that they will be represented by one of their ambassadors in Ivy Masebe who will be one of the Technical Officials in Cape Town.
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