Netball South Africa Challenge

The Netball South Africa Challenge (previously known as the Diamond Challenge and currently known as the SPAR Challenge) is an international netball tournament held close to biannually in South Africa and organised by the country's governing body for the sport, Netball South Africa. The challenge is contested by the South African national team and up to five other African nations. The inaugural tournament was held in 2012 and it has been contested in most subsequent years.

Netball South Africa Challenge
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2021 SPAR Challenge Series
SportNetball
Inaugural season2012
No. of teams3-6
Most recent
champion(s)		 South Africa (5th title)
Most titles South Africa (5 titles)

History

The tournament has been held in different South African cities since it began in 2012. The South African team has won each of the tournaments on offer. The tournament did not take place in 2014 and 2017.[1][2] Despite South Africa's dominance at the tournament, head coach Norma Plummer has stated "we respect all teams we play in the Diamond Challenge and we [work] hard to win these games confidently".[3] In the 2016 and 2018 editions, an invitational second-tier side, known as the South African Presidents XII, has participated with a view to developing the "next tier" of South African netballers with international experience.[3]

Results
Year City Opponent(s) Results Winner Ref
2012 Pretoria  Botswana
 Malawi
 Zambia		 3rd/4th: BOT 45-36 ZAM
Final: RSA 47-43 MAW		 South Africa [4]
2013 Port Elizabeth  Zambia
 Zimbabwe		 Final: SA 59-45 ZIM South Africa [5]
2015 Margate  Malawi
 Uganda
 Zambia		 3rd/4th: UGA 59-34 ZAM
Final: RSA 40-35 MAW		 South Africa [6]
2016 Durban South Africa SAP XII
 Uganda
 Zimbabwe		 3rd/4th: UGA 54-54 SAP XII
Final: RSA 68-34 ZIM		 South Africa [7]
2018 Seshego  Botswana
 Namibia
South Africa SAP XII
 Zambia
 Zimbabwe		 1st: South Africa / 2nd: Zambia
3rd: Zimbabwe / 4th: Botswana
5th: Namibia / 6th: Presidents XII[nb 1]		 South Africa [8]
[9]
2021 Cape Town  Uganda
 Namibia
South Africa SAP XII
South Africa SA U21		 TBC TBC N/A

See also

Notes
  1. Despite winning four of their five matches, the Presidents XII were not ranked in the medal count and so have been assigned sixth position in this table (see here).

References
  1. "Spar Proteas aim to edge out Malawi at challenge". CityPress. 14 June 2015.
  2. "Proteas year in review". Netball Scoop. 24 December 2017.
  3. "South African netball sides named ahead of Diamond Challenge". Netball South Africa. 24 November 2018.
  4. Luke Williams (20 August 2012). "Weakened South Africa triumphs over Malawi in Diamond Netball Challenge". Netball Scoop.
  5. "2013 Diamond Challenge (SA/Zambia/Zimbabwe)". Netball Scoop Forum Archive. 28 October 2013.
  6. "Plummer's Proteas shine to win Diamond Challenge". South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee. 21 June 2015.
  7. "2016 Diamond Challenge". Netball Scoop Forum Archive. 2 October 2016.
  8. "2018 Diamond Challenge in South Africa (27 Nov-1 Dec)". Netball Scoop Forum. 5 November 2018.
  9. "SPAR PROTEAS WRAP UP DIAMOND CHALLENGE TITLE DEFENCE". South Africa Netball. Facebook. 1 December 2018.
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