Netball League (South Africa)

The Netball League of South Africa (known for sponsorship purposes as the Telkom Netball League) is the leading semi-professional netball league in South Africa.

Netball League (South Africa)
SportNetball
Founded2014
Inaugural season2014
No. of teams10
Country South Africa
Most recent
champion(s)		Gauteng Jaguars (2019)
Most titlesGauteng Jaguars & Free State Crinums (3 titles each)
TV partner(s)SuperSport (South Africa)

History
Logo of the league when it was sponsored by Brutal Fruit

On April 16, 2014, Netball South Africa announced that the first semi-professional netball league ever to play in Africa would be launched. Juicing company Brutal Fruit (subsidiary of South African Breweries) were signed as the league's naming-rights sponsor for five years, ensuring the competition would be known as the Brutal Fruit Netball Cup. Ahead of the 2019 competition the sponsorship deal expired and the league was sponsored by Telkom.[1] The inaugural championship was contested by 10 teams from all nine South African provinces, played over a five-week period. The top five provincial teams formed Division 1, with the remainder forming Division 2. The first competition ran from May 10, 2014 to June 7, 2014. All matches were held in the Rembrandt Hall at the University of Pretoria and were broadcast live on SuperSport.[2]

The Free State Crinums won the inaugural Brutal Fruit Netball Cup, beating the Gauteng Jaguars 40-36 in a match that went into overtime.[3] Western Cape's Southern Stings won the Division 2 Shield of the Brutal Fruit Netball Netball in its inaugural year, beating KZN Kingdom Stars 39-31 in the final match.[4][5][6]

As of 2019 the league consists of 10 teams split into two divisions. Three other teams whose results were not included were added; the Presidents Smileys, a team made up of national team players based in South Africa, the President’s Stars which is a male only team, competing only in exhibition matches and the Zimbabwe national team used the league as preparation for the World Cup.[7] The 2019 championship was won by the Gauteng Jaguars, their third title in the competition.[8]

Tournament Rules

All matches in the league are played according to prevailing International Netball Federation (INF) rules. Points are awarded as follows:

  • Win = 2 points
  • Draw = 1 point
  • Lose = 0 points

The duration of each match is one hour, consisting of four quarters of 15 minutes each.

Current teams
DivisionProvinceTeam
1GautengJaguars
1Western CapeStings
1North WestFlames
1Free StateCrinums
1GautengGolden Fireballs
2Eastern CapeAloes
2KwaZulu-NatalKingdom Stars
2LimpopoBaobabs
2MpumalangaSunbirds
2Northern CapeDiamonds

List of Division 1 winners
  • 2019: Gauteng Jaguars[8]
  • 2018: Gauteng Jaguars[9]
  • 2017: Gauteng Jaguars[9]
  • 2016: Free State Crinums[10]
  • 2015: Free State Crinums[11]
  • 2014: Free State Crinums[12]

References
  1. "South Africa's semi-professional netball tournament continues thanks to a new corporate partner". Pretoria East Rekord. 3 May 2019.
  2. Retrieved 08/01/2015
  3. brutaladmin (2014-06-08). "Free State Clinch Final In Extra Time Thriller". Brutal Fruit Netball Cup. Retrieved 2015-11-24.
  4. brutaladmin (2014-06-07). "Southern Stings Win Netball Shield". Brutal Fruit Netball Cup. Retrieved 2015-11-24.
  5. "SA Netball goes professional with Brutal Fruit". SAB Stories. Retrieved 2015-11-24.
  6. Netball South Africa (2014-09-30). "Netball teams announced for potchefstroom's spar international series - Netball South Africa". Netball-sa.co.za. Archived from the original on 2015-01-12. Retrieved 2015-11-24.
  7. "Fixtures for the 2019 Telkom Netball League". Netball South Africa. Facebook. 1 May 2019.
  8. "Jaguars roar to another Telkom Netball League title". Run Ride Dive. 9 June 2019.
  9. "Jaguars Retain The Brutal Fruit Netball Premier League". International Netball Federation. 19 June 2018. For a second consecutive season, the Gauteng Jaguars have won the Brutal Fruit Netball Premier League title following a breathtaking 49-47 victory over the Western Cape Southern Stings in Pretoria.
  10. "2016 Brutal Fruit Netball Premier League". Netball Scoop Archive. 29 May 2016.
  11. "2015 Brutal Fruit Netball Premier League". Netball Scoop Archive. 8 June 2015.
  12. "2014 Brutal Fruit Netball Cup". Netball Scoop Archive. 10 June 2014.
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