From the left are: Khanyisa Chawane, Maryka Holtzhausen, and Meagan Roux, three of the four current and former Kovsies in the new Protea netball squad.
The newly selected
senior Protea netball squad for next month's Quad Series is, as was the case a couple of years ago, dominated by Kovsie players.
Three members from the squad of 15 – Meagan Roux,
Khanyisa Chawane, and Karla Pretorius, are students at the University of the Free State. A fourth player,
Maryka Holtzhausen, is a former Kovsie who is working at Kovsiesport when she is not playing professional netball in England.
Meagan, a second-year BSc Physiotherapy student, is the youngest member in the squad. She and Khanyisa impressed for the
Free State Crinums in the Premier League during May and June. Khanyisa, studying BSc Geography and Stats, was named the Player of the Tournament and the best centre-court player. Norma Plummer, Protea head coach, said she has had her eye on Roux, a goal attack, for a while.
“She also plays wing attack, so she is very versatile. I am also very interested in Khanyisa,” Plummer said. The last Kovsie player to be selected for the Proteas for the first time, was Lauren-Lee Christians back in 2015, and before her it was Pretorius and Anja Opperman, both in 2011.
“The passion is burning so high in the hearts of KC and Meagan,” said Burta de Kock, coach of the Kovsies and Free State.
“KC took the step from goal defence to wing defence to centre one step at a time. Meagan possesses unbelievable BMT and grew with every match. The words ‘giving up’ don’t exist in their vocabulary.”