The South African netball team led by Bongi Msomi is working towards becoming one of the world’s best.
National team captain Bongi Msomi has become a great ambassador for South African netball as she continues to make waves ahead of the World Cup in England later this year, becoming a role model in a sport that has wide participation among women in the country.
Msomi took up netball late, and quite by chance, but has risen to become a top international player, having turned her passion for the sport into a career.
She has played professionally in England and Australia, and has been part of the senior national team set-up since 2011, becoming a key cog in their rise to number five in the world rankings.
READ MORE | Thembi Kgatlana’s Long And Hard Road to Houghston
It has been a meteoric rise and an unexpected one at that, but Msomi is proud of her achievements, and feels there is more to come.
“I only started playing netball in Grade 11 when I was 16 years old and it all happened by accident,” Msomi tells FORBES WOMAN AFRICA from her base in England, where she currently plays for Wasps.
“I was at Luthayi High School [in Hammarsdale, KwaZulu-Natal] and went to watch one of the training sessions as some of the girls from my township played in the team. I had no interest in netball at all though.
“But that day, there were only 13 players at training and the coach wanted to play a match, which you need 14 players for [seven per side]. So they asked if I would fill in and that is where it started for me, I was hooked. It was all by accident really!
READ MORE | ‘From Zero to Hero’: The Queen Of The 800 meters Caster Semenya
“I owe a lot to my school coach [Sthembiso Mncwabe] as he put a lot of time into helping me with my skills. Because I started so late there was a lot of work needed.”
Msomi quickly rose to prominence with her athletic ability and skill, and within a few years had made the South African Under-19 side, and then the Under-21s, and her leadership qualities, meaning she captained the latter side at the World Youth Championships in the Cook Islands in 2009.
It took her a little longer for senior team recognition though, as she attended a number of camps without being selected, until she made her bow at the 2011 World Cup in Singapore.
“I haven’t looked back since then,” Msomi says. “I have been a regular in the national team, was the vice-captain for a while and am now the captain, which is obviously a very proud moment for my family and I.
It has been a long journey, an interesting one, but it has opened so many doors for me and for that, I will always be grateful.
Msomi is currently in her third season in England, having turned out for Surrey Storm and now Wasps, winning championships with each, and with a spell at Adelaide Thunderbirds in Australia as well.
“Playing professionally has been amazing, being able to turn this passion into a paid job is just unbelievable,” she says.
“There are now eight of us in the national team that are playing professionally overseas and that certainly makes us a stronger team.
“But it also shows me that we do have a long way to go in South Africa, when you see how professional players train, eat and look after themselves. That should be our goal and we are moving in that direction.”
The Brutal Fruit Netball Premier League is a provincial competition in South Africa that has been played since 2014, and is slowly helping to improve the standard, according to Msomi.
“It exposes players to be seen and is an amazing set-up, but it could still improve further in terms of being more competitive and preparing players for the international stage.
“We know as a country, we can play netball, we have proven that, but the step up to the level of the top teams in the world is huge. When you see how top players train on and off the court, then you realize what it takes to get to the very top.”
Msomi will be a star player when South Africa compete at the World Cup from July 12 to 21.
Australia head the world rankings, followed by New Zealand, Jamaica and England, and Msomi says finishing in the top four positions at the tournament should be the goal of the side.
“Every country wants to win a medal and that would be amazing, but my honest wish for us, looking at where we have come from, would be to look at finishing in the top four first.
“We have shown the world in the recent quadrangular series that we can push the top teams hard. We beat England and only lost to New Zealand in extra-time when we really should have won.
“Once you make the semi-finals, anything can happen in professional sport. It all comes down to how the two teams perform on the day. After that, who knows, anything is possible,” Msomi says.
READ MORE | The Million Dollar Game
Netball SA CEO Blanche De La Guerre has watched the development of Msomi through the years and believes she is an outstanding ambassador for the sport in the country.
“From a shy, quiet young player, she has absolutely blossomed into this confident and opinionated player. It has been wonderful to see!” De La Guerre tells FORBES WOMAN AFRICA.
“Bongi is such a good example of somebody who has succeeded despite the odds being stacked against her. She never made excuses along the way, and always put in the hard work necessary to get to the top.
“Through tough times, she could have blamed the fact that she had started late in the game, that she had no takkies [sports shoes] or kit, no gym to go to, but she never did that. She just made sure she worked harder than everybody else.
“She is an example to every little girl out there that you can make things happen for yourself if you put in the hard work. That you can become a national captain and play overseas.”
De La Guerre has praised the leadership of Msomi and the work that she does away from the court.
“She has excellent leadership qualities and delivers a powerful message. She also leads by example, which I think is one of her best qualities. She spends a lot of time doing development work when she is back in South Africa, inspiring young girls to take up the sport.”
-Nick Said