A South African Special with Shadine van der Merwe, Nicola Smith & Jenny van Dyk 🤩 | Off the Court

►SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/SkySportsSub
This week Tamsin chats with an all South African crew. Following their top of the table clash, she is joined by Manchester Thunder’s Shadine van der Merwe and Loughborough Lightning’s Nicola Smith. Later in the pod, Tamsin speaks to Jenny van Dyk, the new Proteas South African Head Coach.

You can watch ‘Off The Court’ every week, live on YouTube after our commentary game, or listen to the podcast for additional content. To ask Tamsin a question, get in touch @skynetball.

MORE FROM SKY SPORTS ON YOUTUBE:
►SKY SPORTS FOOTBALL: http://bit.ly/SSFootballSub
►SKY SPORTS BOXING: http://bit.ly/SSBoxingSub
►SKY SPORTS CRICKET: http://bit.ly/SubscribeSkyCricket
►SOCCER AM: http://bit.ly/SoccerAMSub
►SKY SPORTS F1: http://bit.ly/SubscribeSkyF1
►SKY SPORTS: http://bit.ly/SkySportsSub
►SKY SPORTS GOLF: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsGolf

►TWITTER: https://twitter.com/skysports
►FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/skysports
►WEBSITE: http://www.skysports.com

welcome to off the court and I don’t even know where to start I’m joined here with Manchester Thunder shadine Vander mura and L for Lightnings Nicholas Smith both Defenders both from South Africa and both just played in probably the most incredible game in the Super League this season shid I’ll start with you because thunder got across the line they’ve beaten leras unbeaten record here sorry Nicola however just taught me through that game um yeah so grateful for the win I think that we had shaky start but we know like this is going to be like a tough battle you know coming up against last year’s championships um winners and also you know they come up to us last um the previous game when they came to our home and um they beat us they showed us some good netball so we knew like we had to come out show respect and had to do a lot of homework um but it was great to be able to you know contest and go for go go for goal and um it was nice a good net ball oh Nicola this is your first year in the Super League um and and that was a cracking cracking game that felt like like a final how did it feel out there um well first of all congratulations um it was really a good game um it’s not nice losing on your home um soil but no it was experience every game is experience in this league um compared to what I’m used to so yeah still grateful for the opportunity but um I think uh we need to go back and do a bit more homework like sh also said um yeah there’s a few mistakes we did but there’s also a lot of good things that we did um so yeah well you both working with two the best tactical coaches in the league and we were lucky enough to sit next to the and there was a lot of chat going on it’s almost like every player knows what’s happening shine is that sort of key in your side and the support for each other like I mean you spent a bit of time on the bench and re-entered the game how big is that culture and the Tactical input yeah I think we are so great to have a solid 12 players um and you know every player that gets on court um they do take the opportunity and it’s so great to make change and be able to you know to you know to not see much change in the game um but rather just bring more energy and um also just being taken off knowing okay just have a look at it and then go on Court and just give me one job to do and I’ll do it but um it’s great to see that there’s a lot of players that will be able to go on Court and also we’ve got a great bench if you hear Anya like from the side it’s so great to hear her voice even though she doesn’t go on court she’s such a such an impact um on the bench as well so we always hear her voice but I can you hear anybody above Josie okay but Josie Josie’s uh Josie Josie’s already like settled in my my yeah here so but you get used to it yeah I get used to it no you can’t miss J I see how you sent her down our end I was trying to do live cons and she was literally there bellowing no Josie’s got the best voice to be fair if she’s a Defender we love that yeah absolutely um Nichol I want to talk about your injection over to this league because you obviously played out in the Telcom what have you learned from being in the Super League because we hear so many of our players going overseas so Australia and New Zealand we’ll talk about that in a moment but what have you learned from our Super League well um go the F so it’s not my first position but coming here um being coached by Vic by live and by stus as well and as um the my players on court as well like Nat bety teaching me so much stuff that I actually didn’t know what to do on gold defense and how to um interact with all the players on court like simple movements that I actually didn’t know would be just so simple but I was like oh it just makes sense um so yeah I’ve been learning a lot on gold the f um don’t know how I feel about goalkeeper prefer that little bit more but I enjoy G the fense but um yeah and just team environment um how we back each other on court off Court having coffee days literally almost every day no I’m joking but um staying with a few of the players as well in the netball house um learning about each other learning different um cultures as well compared well South Africans compared to um the British but um really enjoying every moment but can’t wait to go back home as well don’t say that it’s not over yet look we’ve had another question in from Jay uh Jess Mak and this is about positions Shad what do you prefer Wing defense or goal defense I do like gold defense I think growing up when I was younger I only moved to Gold defense as I was like 17 years old I was always a goal attack so switching over to that position I like it because I can hunt more I can run more I can get more intercepts where Wing defense it’s always the donkey work um but you always make your players look good behind you but um I think in the international level I do prefer Wing the f um but like maybe Club League or so on I do like going into that Circle as well well I have to ask you this quickly before before we pass back over to Nicola this is from Taylor in your team Taylor mcit Chad who’s your favorite player at Sund oh my word this could stick you right up yeah to be fair I get along with um all all the teammates and I’m not I’m not saying it just because it’s on TV but I do love my teammate and if you had to just pick one that you just went for coffee because like Nicholas going for coffee all the time who is your favorite um non taken don’t don’t be mad at me but um I would say alaben she is my little sister I would say with got a little Bond um so I would say Allah she also gives you a bit of rest I saw that you went to the bench you came on and then you went flying across the court for The Intercept so I think you owe a big time yeah has that shoulder a big time B um Nichol I just want to pick up International you’ve been named in the the South African program the program out there and we’re going to speak to Jenny van djk as well on Monday which is very exciting um but just talk to me a little bit about that and international experience and what have you guys got coming up um so I’m really excited to be coached by Jenny as well as Zan haven’t been coached by her Zan is my actually my University coach um so I’m really excited to be coached by them and see what they have um in the pocket for us I think they have like a few cards are going to pull out um but yeah we have not sure what tournaments we have upcoming but um definitely there’s a lot of training camps I know and because it’s a new team new coaches so we all need to get to know each other but um really excited to see what’s happening um and what she will be able to do with the team especially for the next World Cup coming up I think they have a a Time rine that I that are working towards um so yeah well shine one of the notable Admissions and I always check the team and then double check it your name wasn’t on the South African list but can you just assure everybody this is not the end of your International career yeah it’s not the end so I said I was I will be I’ll make myself available um in July and and unfortunately I’ve missed the trials in January I was here in the in the UK um being part of preseason so uh that’s why I wasn’t selected but um I had a good conversation with Janny and um if I’m going back to South Africa I’ll be re-entered into camps and so on and then I have to prove myself to be able to be part of the team again I mean just show that highlight real of you jumping across the court I I I think you’re good I think you’ll get straight back in there I want to just touch base on Jenny then because I don’t know a lot about her was big news in the international world we were all looking we spoke to SAR Francis Bay the other day she said if she could coach any team at the minute South Africa would be it so much talent coming through but I spoke a little bit about Jenny with you earlier and you saw eyes lit up yeah um now I’ve got so much respect for the woman because she was actually um the the first um coach out there that scouted me when I was still in school and I felt like that’s the first time and somebody saw my potential and she just groomed me because I remember when my first year in University I stepped on Court and she said oh everybody to the Baseline I didn’t even know what the Baseline was so it was a bit embarrassment but um but she just like groomed me and she believed in me and um she build me as a player and also not just a player but as a human being so I’ve walked so many years with her I played with University I played clubs with her and she’s just such a great passionate coach and she will back her players and she loves winning so for her being able to be selected I’m so grateful and so happy for her because she deserves it NCA how important was it to have a South African coach come into that role after so long with Norma in and out and and she’s brought so much to to your team and to your nation but now to actually move forward it felt like it was a moment it was the right time yeah well always grateful for Coach Norma um she’s a great coach and I think you are really privileged to be coach by her um but having a South African coach two South African coaches a head coach and assistant coach something really excited for South Africa um to see what we have well what we have in store as well um not just having coaches overseas but having coaches in our country players in our country um so yeah I think it’s a huge step um I must say um but it’s really good for it’s a good name for nbal South Africa um so yeah I’m really excited for her and excited for the team well we’ve been so used to having so much talent come from South Africa over the years you’re a bit of a you’ve been here a while now sh but we still get excit we still get excited about her um any names we need to be looking at on that list who’s going to be gracing our courts in the next couple of years because there’s always someone um I would say kamu masu um goal attack wing attack I know her because I coach at University and um her I pram when she made her first debut and it was a few years ago but then she wasn’t selected for a few years but she’s coming back strong and she’s got a bit sass on her but she loves that sass on Court and it’s something spicy and she’s really exciting to look forward to what position uh goal attack wing attack go attack wing attack and you’re going to have to voice note me her name yeah I can do that I can absolutely do that well listen ladies an absolute pleasure um and it wasn’t quite the result ler wanted but it was a game the neutrals it was fantastic to see you both go at each other like I called it I think it’s going to be the final this year yeah yeah you’ll be happy with that yes definitely we we’ll see we’ll see a long way to go but it was a fantastic game so thank you very much I’ll let you lot go and cool down now thank you thank you so much no problem oh they’re going to ditch me well listen if you are what if you’re watch here we go we’ll try again if you’re watching us live on YouTube then don’t forget to check out the podcast later in the week and if you’re listening thank you very much we really app appreciate our fans and we’ve got a great interview coming up with head coach of South Africa Jenny van djk welcome to this week’s off the court and I’m very pleased to announce we have South African head coach Jenny vany Jenny welcome to the show thank you for having me I’m very excited about this interview because um we’ve not met we’ve not had lots of netball chats and that’s strange in a very small netball world but when you got this role all I heard from players and fans um and everybody to do with Sou African Nall that this was the right appointment how how excited are you to to finally get your hands on the national team oh I’m definitely very excited yes it’s been a long time coming but you know I think you get the appointment you need in the times you need it and um now it’s all about making an impact and making a difference in South African netball I’ve looked into your background and I mean I’m not sure there’s anything you haven’t won you had huge success in the University Network system you’ve uh the most decorated domestic coach in terms of winning five consecutive titles with the Jaguars you were the under 21’s head coach you you did some work with bwana the national side I mean you’ve done so much work and people have talked about you having this Midas Touch This this winning ability I mean I know how much work goes in behind the background just talk a little bit about that Journey because it’s never very direct from from A to B oh definitely not you know I think you touched on it now it’s about the hard work it’s about putting in the hours and and really making sure that the players understand and everybody buys into the plan and it takes quite a a big effort a team effort and obviously just selecting the right players and knowing that the players you work with have that ability to work on the on the analytical um area that we want to them to focus on for that moment and to execute the game plan and what we have planned out for them now a lot of Co coaches you know you’re always here they’ll say you know we focus on ourselves mostly and that’s important to me but it’s also quite important to me to focus on the opponent and for all my players to understand exactly what the permanent is doing and and it’s so empowering for them to be in a position where they really understand what they’re up against and that just gives us a little bit of that age yeah no I I love that and and it’s it’s something that I’m super passionate about and when I was delving into your sort of background um I saw that when normal plumber first came over you working and as an analyst for for the senior side and she sort of said do you want to be a coach do you want to stay as an analyst and you like no I want to coach I want a coach but just talk to me about the analytical work then because I think there’s been a major shift across the world I think for a long time Australia worked on them but they didn’t really focus on the opposition and we’ve seen a massive change in that and I know it’s something that I’ve heavily focused on when I talk about analysis it’s not just about you as your group and upskilling your players but it’s also like how do you attack the opposition how how helpful has that role been for you to now step into this head coach par I look um that’s just been the everything in my opinion that has made me the coach that I am today you know there’s a lot of small 1 percentage that makes a big difference but for me that has really showed me and and taught me the game of netball breaking it up into that million little pieces and then pulling out all those million little pieces again and finding exactly what it is and that will make the biggest difference and impact you know sometimes as a coach you you look at another team play just by watching the match and you say oh wow that player oh what a great role on the Baseline you know and then we want to build a plan but if that only happened once why would we want to build a plan against that around that you know and to me that just brings me to what the real things are that they’re doing brilliant and where they are the most lethal and the moment you get into that position where you really understand that it makes a big difference on your focus and and where you know you’ll hit the hardest so for me as well you know being the analyst and and and getting to understand how to do that really formed me as a coach and it I I just can’t imagine life without having that little game broken down into 2,000 little pieces after every match yeah I know I mean I spend hours training through it I can imagine you do as well and and I think what’s really what I found quite intriguing is is uh P pre-match it’s all fine you’ve got all the footage you need post match it’s all fine you’ve seen what happened you can break it down I’m intrigued by the actual match happening because like you said there are so many one percenters and there’s the buildup into the game but so much happens in Neto like there is so much going on you’ve got to find that one little gem that’s going to make the difference at quarter time that one little gem that’s going to make the difference at half time before they go back out again do you think that exposure for you working with with the national side s of behind the scenes doing that has put you in this position where you’re like ah you know what I know how to trigger a against Australia I know how to trigger against England yes definitely and also you know that was one of the things that I spoke to our director of coaches about saying that even our young coaches coming in now um let’s give them the training let’s Empower them they should be behind the scenes and I mean imagine you’ve got them coming in as your analysts and in a few years time they take over from you they’ve got the the the same understanding and because I know how it Formed me as a coach and yes definitely finding that one or two things every quarter to make big changes to and to me you know it’s it’s a lot about creating that moments where we can finish strong every quarter whether we are up by 20 up by 10 down by 10 that last three minutes of every quarter what what are we doing in those moments What’s the decision making around it and how can we get ourselves to if anything just steal one Center pass for the next quarter to start you know get that one point extra in the back so yes um a lot of focus around managing that that part the game as well how important then was that relationship with Norma because um I knew Norma when I was playing and she was scary as hell right but then afterwards um I I got to know Norma a lot better and um she’s just an incredible incredible lady and and the work she did with South Africa was was huge for you to work alongside her I I know you you’ve sort of said how important she was how integral she was and not only to to South Africa as a whole but also to as a coach oh so important you know when I started that first run I got as the analyst um I had a quite a few conversations with her and the the back then I was working with the Jaguars it was the first three years of the league and we came Second Every Time We Lost in the finals and I mean I had shine I had lenise bitter I had the names and we kept on losing in the finals and then she started working with the team and she started showing me um how to change things around and how to work the long court and how to put up your systems and how not to overtrain your players but how to help them to think for themselves on Court and that was one of the main focus areas I was doing a great job in analyzing the game and showing them what I thought we had to do but I wasn’t giving them enough time to see it for themselves and to tell me what they are going to do about it as well and you know she’s played such an important role in how I am building my new program with the Pras and and you know she she has Open Door the other day I spoke to her and she said you know if you need any work done with that side I mean let me know I I’m I’m available and it’s just so nice to know that um that I have Open Door towards them that’s absolutely brilliant those stories with Norma and but I think it’s so important to get those learning experiences what I really enjoyed listening there was that whole idea about the player management piece because like you said you can be the best um analytical coach in the world you can know all the technical stuff you can know all the drills but how you get your team to operate is so crucial and I’ve read some of your interviews about creating this winning mentality and this culture and this netball identity across South Africa now that’s going to be a huge piece of the puzzle right the actual cultural piece because you’ve had Norma in there who has has shown you those those bits from Australia has shown you the intensity they need to work at but the actual winning part the actual Fearless part that I saw England have to go through that takes time and that comes from a belief system what does that look like for you guys did definitely and you know it’s it’s by all means I think I’ve perfected it on lower levels and even with Team Botswana I mean going in winning the Nations cup um in Singapore back a while ago um it really took quite a lot but I think you know to us we we having quite a lot of discussions about what does it look like for South Africa you know I went to the World Cup in um Liverpool 2029 2019 and um I I actually had the opportunity to go to all the clinics the World Cup clinic but as but also the England Clinic that they were hosting and um you know they was talking about all the different styles of all the different countries and it was just well known that South Africa doesn’t really have a style and obviously with with normal the Aussie way it it has made a massive impact on how we do things but you know um what also happened is she she opened our eyes to find more funds to have longer camps because we were in a situation where our previous National Camp coaches they would have a weekend they come in Friday morning they go home on Sunday night and you didn’t have a choice but to work like on court for8 hours every day and obviously that caused a lot of niggles and injuries and and fatigue and you didn’t quite get out of it what you wanted out of it and and it and that’s the one thing that I I think you know now it’s we comeing we have our week or two in training camp every month and we can have quality because we know it’s about intensity and for us that intensity plays a part and to me when it comes to that winning culture again how do we finish every quarter even the ones that we’re already winning because we need to be so so conditioned to know exactly what What scenario is playing out and what time we have left what’s the score what can we do in that time um you know and that’s quite a lot of the work that I do with my players as well is is that situational place of this is the time this is the score because sometimes they you know that there’s 30 seconds left on the clock they think they need to turn around and just play that ball down but you can get a lot done in 30 seconds you can still win that game and but they need to understand it and even now we’ve got our first training camp scheduled I’m so excited about it I’m now really tired of talking to everybody I want to get on Court and start working um but we’ve got our first training camp scheduled now between the the weeks of tnl and um the I I actually changed my focus because I want the players to to fix what I’ve seen in the past 10 days I wanted the senior players to go back to their teams and find the fixes to some of the basic errors and basic play that we felt they didn’t do too well um in this Camp so yes uh a lot of things on the mind and a lot of things that I want to execute and um luckily you know in his a said to us you know there is a little bit of time use your time we don’t have to make any quick decisions at this stage because all our players are currently busy in all the different leaks um which gives us a little time to really talk things through before we just action everything you know I am well I’ll touch on those players then because I’ve seen seen your list and obviously big names have started to go really natural happens progression so every coach talks about a rebuild year but looking through the 15 players in in the full Squad eight of those sit overseas at the moment it’s a bit of a logistical nightmare for any International coach at this present time even even Stacy minkovich right she’s got all her players at home pretty much but she’s also competing with the fact that international players are taking spots for her future players coming through so every coach at the minute has this logistical nightmare internationally how does that sit with with you guys as a nation because in England it’s helped us you can’t get away from the fact that players going overseas and playing in Australia was pretty much a huge turning point for the success of the Roses over the last few years but it’s hard right because you want a camp you want your players in with you and they’re sat in all these different clubs under all these different sort of regimes what what does that look like really for the future of South Africa well to me you know what uh great problem to have you know for us we we’ve not been we’ve not been invited onto league so much I we had we had a a stage where quite a lot of our players were playing in the sun um Sun cop and then we kind of didn’t have that many players so to me it’s it’s a fantastic Pro problem to have because I really feel that they are benefiting and I feel that it’s it’s fantastic for them to get that experience and I think what it does for the players is if you’re going to train let’s take um Uganda let’s take Mary if you’re going to train against Mary every day for the for a couple of months I mean that surely gives you the advantage as well yes she’ll also benefit but it’s good for netball because both of us will improve so now what I’ve seen back in the day with especially with the players playing in the sun CP that they they realized that we can also do this you know we don’t have to stand back for anybody I train I play against these players week in week out why can’t I and that’s why they had that fantastic run at the 2019 World Cup um playing there you know they they they knew they could do it and that to me the the benefits out weigh all the issues that you might feel you have and yes you have to adjust your program and um I think I’m on draft number 24 after all the discussions we have had because I came in with a very clear plan of how I was going to execute absolutely everything um but there is situations like that so now I’ve got two of my players only coming back in middle of um August luckily the UK players is the BK of the group and they’ll be coming back earlier but yes we we work around that because that match time is just fantastic for them to get well we spoke to shadine earlier in the show and um she was she was talking about some of the young players come through I put her on the spot and went go on then because we keep seeing the big names come through and we’ve seen scoa come she’s gone and got that Mavericks contract um and we got really excited with some of the players that we saw play against England in in um their Series so talk to me about some of those under 21 players or those younger players that come through into the system because you have had a big impact on them and shine was singing your Praises on how much you helped her as a young player coming through the system so who who do we need to look out to for who’s the new Carla the new bongi the new lenise well let me first tell you I mean obviously shadine I don’t know if she told the story but when she was in in matrick I somebody phoned me and they said listen you have to go look at this player she’s far away away from anybody that will ever be able to see her and I went through and I watched her play the one day and she was playing on Center would you believe it and she was just phenomenal and I remember standing there waiting for everybody to be done congratulating her on up and just went to a straight and said listen here there’s just no way you need to come to the university aor I need to work with you um you know she just had pra written all over her and yes I hope after her break I’m obviously such a quality player so yes definitely I’m a player that that we I’m in communication in quite a lot with at the moment but yes there’s one or two players you know it was interesting setting up this squad because number one we we lost quite a few of our real um you know solid starting line options um that retired that’s in retirement at the moment so so we first wanted to make sure that the squad we do select um number one we can start performing now but we also have to look at the bigger plan in the next four years building into the next eight years and who we felt so in January we had a camp and um most of the the top coaches came in as selected for that camp and the good news was most of us totally agreed on about 10 of the 50 names that were contracted at the end of the day which which which gives me confidence in knowing that we have the right base of players and you know the core group is now quite where it is the one or two extras we added we felt you know that’s the little bit Personal Touch the the what we need to execute our game plan a little bit and who we want to develop in the next few years so yes there’s quite a few um players that I think you know with I’ve been working with kamu at the University of ptor for for and you know only three days now I’m not at the University from the 1 of May I’m now officially the head coach of South Africa and um you know if the progress I’ve seen with her in the past three years alone is something that really excites me and I think you know she’s only started to show what she can do so and a lot of these players you saw in the in the Aussie in the Aussie test series and in the England test series and they were starting to get their run and that’s the wonderful thing I saw in campus well with them in Australia that the seniors were mentoring them and they kind of started sitting back and nor could immediately see yes the Juniors just started to say okay I’m ready give me that opportunity I’m ready for it now so a lot of them we’ve already seen but they’ve hardly only started you know so I’m I’m quite excited about the bunch that I’ve already seen come through through England and Australia but there’s um one or two young ones like ana um she was playing she played in the F five as a goalkeeper she had such a solid domestic League um last year and it was time for her to get opportunity and T mate not a lot of people know her um she went through injury last year but she joined us again in camp in January and um you know I think she’s got something really special and the one person I’m really excited about and you know I had a discussion with her earlier she said to me coach my neck ball has come alive I’m so glad I came over to the UK Al she said coach I’m just absolutely enjoying myself I because I mean she was really at a stage where she didn’t quite know what she wanted to do for the future and she just said I’m loving every moment and I’m so glad to see that course I think you know what a highly capable player yeah I mean she was incredible you’ll be able to catch up with the netball Super League from the weekend um at some point but that match between Thunder and and thunder and love for lightning will not disappoint you so I just want to touch on the Telcom League the tnl like we know lots about it over here in the UK two divisions it’s going on at the moment you’ve been watching loads of games over there at the weekend what does the vision look like for that League what’s the hopes and the future for it yes definitely and you know talcom has been great and and through the two divisions we giving quite a lot of players and opportunity to build in the depth that we need in our system look there there are limitations obviously when I had a good look at the the the Super League at the the A&Z and the the sun Corp you know we’re getting in the the competition side of it from round one to to finals um we we’re losing out on about 90 days of competition that the others are getting extra which to me is a concern but yes we’re obviously also um pushing towards that professional League which will look a little bit different and um I’m hoping the the the president gave us a a promise that by next year we’ll have that running as well and I mean that’s obviously a step in the right direction for us as well but if you look at Carla Carla pus she’s not been a part of our league for a couple of years now and you look you see a play in the tnl and you immediately understand where we are lacking and it’s just amazing where a lot of you know the times they would say oh Carla she’s getting old she’s maybe not quite P pulling out what she’s supposed to you could just see her Brilliance in the tnl league you could just see where she’s actually at and and a lot of that we need to to educate the rest of our players with we do have our our our issues a lot of our teams are made up of a a lot of different District players so that it’s not the type of situation where you can train together twice or three times a week some of our of the teams are luckier they they quite close to each other and they can train um but yes there there is obviously issues but at least we do have a lead like that and it’s running and and you know it’s consistent it’s been around for a while yeah I think I think that’s so important isn’t it and you’re seeing the shifts over the world whether it’s rule changes um you know we’re going through the tender process at the moment so whether there’ll be new teams what that looks like moving forward how many and there’s so many I guess opinions on what that should look like um I guess I’m all for the best league in the world operates at the moment it’s the SSN it can’t be far wrong from that blueprint is that sort of the ambition although funding is a huge piece of that puzzle and I think working at Scotland and um seeing what international netor looks like for the other nations I think everyone just expects um these easy fixes but as you know behind the scenes it’s not just as straightforward as that no definitely not and it’s um we are really working hard behind the scenes to secure more sponsors and you know I’m always the one to say if the springbox can do it that well then we can do it as well and um but yes there’s quite a big difference but in in funding so there’s a that I think there’ll be a new sponsor hopefully being announced soon they are coming to the parties later but you the residents working around the clock and the CEO and and nle South Africa so they’re really pushing the boundaries but obviously we also understand and and even for us sometimes now we need to make the decision because we’ve got an under 21 World Cup coming up so obviously we need to make sure that those players also get opportunity and and I mean I’ve been pushing for funds for that because I used to be the coach for that team and and you know um sat this weekend and said to them you know this is a true priority for us for to do well in that World Cup as well so juggling the the different programs and even with the the male players um coming through quite strongly now and using their opportunities during Fast Five and the African Cup um quite important for us so we’re actually looking into how we can incorporate and just combine our programs a little better in order to save money on certain areas so that we can give more opportunities to all our players to me it’s not just important that the pr to well I want our F five to team to really win and I want our 21es to go out there and be highly competitive I want our males team because in back year that we rely on them quite a lot for match time as well and so so that’s all of it very important not just the national pra program at this stage yeah and I think that’s that’s the part isn’t it you can throw all your eggs in one basket and go right we’re just going to take this group on a four-year Journey but then what what happens next I think what was incredible for for the neetal world to see was was the World Cup in South Africa i’ I’d never been um spent time in Cape Town was absolutely stunning um and the World Cup was was incredible what I hate the word legacy in some ways because it gets thrown around so much we’re going to create a legacy around this big competition but but what has been the impact of that for for you as a nation oh it’s been huge you know I think you know I spoke to one of our district presidents and she said to me over the weekend she said last year before the World Cup we had 50 around 50 clubs in that District this year we have 150 clubs in that one district and I’m not did are you sure she yes we’ve grown so much and I think you know people are are you can see they are really buying into it in saying that it’s not always easy for a for a sport like netball after a World Cup and there’s a little bit of a period where you kind of have to we’re not as aggressive in our approach for this year because we need to really make sure that we use our money wisely it’s an expensive Affair but yes can you believe I missed the entire world cup I had my tickets booked first and then I went to Trin and Tobago with the Commonwealth youth games team and we missed everything yeah so I can’t tell you that much about the World Cup well well I mean for South Africa great present wasn’t the end result that they wanted but in terms of the competition it was brilliant and hey you you did pretty good at the the the the Comm games youth cup because you got a silver there so you’ll just add that to your list of accolades um Nicholas Smith mentioned earlier in the Pod that she uh she’s loving her time in the UK but she can’t wait to get back home and what I found being out in South Africa there’s this special culture that you all have that um is is different I actually found it when I went to Scotland everyone everyone’s proud to be Scottish and I found in South Africa it’s the same there was something about home um try and summarize that kind of cult how you bring that into the netball environment because there were things that I noticed that were just special look we we absolutely love our country and we love to to do well and we are very proud and you know we we’ll stand together and I think as a nation we’ve come such a long way and as a nation we’ve learned and we’ve gotten to know each other so well uh I mean just the different type of cultures we have running within our environment we’ve got so many diverse people that we that that we work with every day and everybody’s different and you know just the beauty of of working and not and I think the big thing is not judging what you see um because everybody has a different background and I think we’ve come such a long way but there’s you know our supporters as well they they love us when we win they’re not that happy with us if we lose I think it I mean obviously Universal but I find year it’s really they kind of very very very hard on us so yes but I you know it’s just it’s difficult to explain but it’s it’s we’ve come such a long way and we understand the struggles of behind the scenes you know the the hardships of not of having to push through days without any electricity and having to push through difficult difficult um phases but as a nation we just end up rising and Rising and Rising all over again and and it’s because of the nation no one person is the reason it’s it’s the the rainbow Nation itself that that inspires that within us and we’ve got fantastic Landscapes we’ve got a little bit of everything in South Africa from the bush F you know to the beautiful stallin Bosch winelands and and you know all those different areas so it’s just such a fantastic country to live in I I got some great Instagram shots trust me it was it was beautiful and it’s on my list list to go back many places um that kind kind of um embracing the culture one of the things I did notice was was the amount of singing and dancing and everything that came out and from the team so I was I was there getting my omelet like I did every morning at the netball World Cup and um the lovely lady behind behind the counter was uh was watching as the South Africa team were going off to to sing and I went and she was halfway through my moment I went leave it go and she went running around and she just joined in and that sort of beautiful moment of everybody getting involved like a do you do you have like a a song or a theme or or something we spoke to Dan Ryan about his themes but do do you have that is that something on your list that you’re like right this is where I’m going to take this group this is how I’m going to get the Buy in not quite a song yet um there’s quite a lot of things you know actually if you look at our football teams that’s where most of the singing usually happens our football teams love to sing a lot of our our teams love to sing it’s just what they do and it just brings that unity and and you know they obviously also love to do things in sequence with the warm-ups and all of that so yes no not a not a definite theme yet but we are getting there like I said we’re not rushing too much at this stage um I’ve had to adapt a lot of things too much in order for me to have a dead certain um plan for today by the time we the rest all the players will be here we’ll definitely know exactly what we’re doing going forward okay so my final question then if we’re sitting here in four years time we’ve just played the next World Cup what’s happened what what does it look like for South Africa because you know you get this question a lot when I took over the Scotland role when you go into a new club and everyone goes I want to win I want to do but I mean if you look you will look back on the four years and it will fly by trust it will fly by as you know with any cycle what what has happened what has gone where you’ve gone w we did what I wanted to me what I would like to see is and I mean like we obviously we need to be realistic as well you don’t just it nothing is impossible and we’re definitely going will always go in any competition for the win that’s just the way it will happen for us but what I would like to see is actually being in a position where we always competitive in order for us to to start teaching ourselves and going through that final three five minutes and grinding together towards a win but if we not if we can’t stay in the game there’s no way we’ll actually get ourselves in a position where we can now in those final moments make the right decisions to get to the win based on the score and the time that’s left on the clock and to me that’s where I that’s where I really want to see this team I want to see them be in that situations where we can start really working and countering out the teams out there to to get to a win and and to me that’s super important but also to say you know we want to play South Africa because they’ve got their own style they you know they’re bringing something different we don’t we don’t just and it’s been great and and let me tell you if you going to to follow somebody why not the Aussies they they they’ve been fantastic and we’ve had a Aussie coach but but we want teams to say hey we want to play a South Africa because of the style that they’re giving us it’s something a little bit different it’s not quite Uganda it’s not quite Scotland but it’s and it’s not the it’s it’s South African and that’s something that I want to see happen as well yeah it’s yours it’s your ID and I’m looking forward to it look Jenny when you um when you speak to people you you get a Vibe and your passion absolutely Shin through and I get it now I get why everyone was saying you were the right appointment and I’m thoroughly looking forward to seeing your your journey as the South African coach I’m hoping on my list in the next four years that we get to meet some at some point and actually sit down and chat analysis and everything else because I reckon I reckon we’d have a long meeting I’d quite like to do it in Stell and BOS in the wineries at some point that would be nice I think we’d have a great time oh definitely you’ve been absolutely pleasured to speak to and I wish you all the luck I’m I’m really looking forward to seeing that Journey so good luck with it all and please keep in touch thank you Tam thanks Jenny