The local netball season can get underway as Netball South Africa launched and officially announced that the 2020 edition of the Telkom Netball League will take place at the Mangaung Indoor Sports Complex in Bloemfontein between the 14th and 27th October 2020.
According to the initial plan by the federation, the tournament was scheduled for a May 2020 start, however, due to the novel pandemic COVID-19 that brought the world to a standstill, this was postponed until now.
Mobile operator Telkom who came on board as headline sponsor in 2019 also announced that they have extended their relationship with Netball South Africa by a further three years and will remain the main headline sponsor of this tournament until 2022.
“We are grateful for partners like Telkom who believe in our vision of turning the sport professional. Their partnership with us is the stepping stone we need in ensuring that we work towards bringing this vision to life. We hope that this relationship will continue to yield the desired results and grow from strength to strength,” said Cecilia Molokwane, Netball SouthPresident.
Initially, the tournament would have been played over a six-week period across three provinces however due to lockdown and travel restrictions, the event will now be hosted in one location and played across two weeks. All teams will be placed in a Biologically Safe Environment (BSE) and this is done to try and minimise the spread of the virus.
All the twelve participating teams will enter the bio bubble on the 8th of October 2020 and will undergo training sessions whilst observing very strict health protocols before they play their first game on the 14th of October 2020. As with many other sporting codes globally, spectators will not be allowed at the arena during this period.
For more information visit the Netball South Africa website here.
