The future’s looking bright for promising netball player, Renisha Daniels, 19, from Rocklands. Despite missing out on making the national under-21 side, the lanky defender/shooter has been included in the Cape Tornadoes side that will compete in the upcoming Telkom Netball League, due to kick off, in Bloemfontein, in October.
Daniels, who plays for Weltevrede Netball Club and Cleopatra Omele, from Khayelitsha, had just returned from an SA under-21 training camp, held at the University of Pretoria’s High Performance Centre, ahead of next year’s under-21 world cup in Fiji.
The two 19-year-olds were among four players from the city invited to attend these trials, with Omele getting the nod from the selectors.
While disappointed that she did not make the squad, Daniels, is hopeful that she will be called back, as the squad had not been finalised.
For now, the two are looking forward to the upcoming Telkom Netball League (TNL), which will be held in Bloemfontein next month, following an announcement from Netball South Africa.
The three-week competition will feature 12 teams from across the country, including the SA under-21 team that will use the tournament as part of their preparations.
The TNL will take place at the Mangaung Indoor Sports Complex in Bloemfontein, from Wednesday October 14 until Tuesday October 27.
Initially, the tournament was supposed to have taken place in May over a six-week period in three provinces but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the eventual lockdown.
However, with the easing of the lockdown regulations, the federation was given the green light, subject to strict conditions.
Cape Town will be represented by the Tornadoes and the Southern Stings, which feature players from the Winelands area. Daniels said she’s excited to be part of the Tornadoes squad and looking to make an impression.
The former Westridge High pupil first made her Western Provice debut in 2016 and was part of the Western Cape squad that won gold and bronze in 2017 and 2018, respectively, at a national schools’ tournament.
“I’ve been playing netball for as long as I can remember,” said Daniels, a first year B.Ed student at the University of the Western Cape. Introduced to mini netball while at primary school, she later joined Westridge Netball Club before settling on her current club, Weltevrede as a then under-13 player.
