SA scoops trophy at international netball tournament
RUIMSIG — A local teacher led the SA schools netball team to victory at the recent netball tournament in Portugal
Maragon netball coach David Maree has just returned from a thrilling netball tournament in Portugal, where his U17 girls team won the ultimate title, beating several European teams.
The girls were the only South African representatives at the International Schools Netball Tournament and went up against teams from Spain and even the British Navy. Contrary to most competitions, the tournament selected teams from the top schools in South Africa instead of focusing on the national teams. This assists in the development of schools sports as stepping stones toward national and international glory.
“When it comes to the U17 and U18 teams, they announce the top 35 school players at the national tournament and they are then given the opportunity to perform in international tournaments. We received the invitation and it has been part of creating partnerships in competitions from across the globe,” said Maree.
A fairly unorthodox career for a male teacher, Maree was told to coach netball by the principal at a school when he was in Klerksdorp and admits that it was a miserable defeat for both him and the girls. However, when he was told to create a winning team or lose his job, his team made it to the top level in Gauteng by the following year.
The now Maragon educator said he always wanted to be a teacher and growing up on a farm in the North West, he always had a crowd to entertain that passion. “I would gather all the other kids on the farm and start teaching them what I had learned in school. I would use the little conference room we had there and after the lesson, we would do sports,” laughed Maree.
Suffice it to say, what seemed to be just mere “pretend play” among the kids was what paved the way for David’s career in sports. He said South Africa’s netball matches up well with the international teams and is regarded in the top four teams globally.
