Both the University of Johannesburg (UJ) Netball Club teams (UJ 1 and UJ 2) excelled at the 2022 University Sports South Africa (USSA) Netball Games, winning all their games. They were promoted to the Super League and Premier League, respectively.
The 2022 USSA netball games were split into two divisions, A and B from 4 to 9 July 2022 at Camp Discovery, Pretoria. The UJ1 and UJ2 teams participated in division A and B, respectively. UJ1 ladies played and won all six games against University of the Witwatersrand, Vaal University of Technology (VUT) Vanderbijlpark, Tshwane University of Technology, University of Zululand, University of Pretoria (Tuks) and Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT).
In the final match, the UJ1 women won 51-40 against Tuks to win the Section A division.
UJ1 players, Tarle Mathe, Sne Msomi, Monica Gomases, Muhluri Hlatswayo were selected for the Dream Team from division A.
“Being part of the Dream Team means the world to me because it makes realise that working hard can make you achieve things that you’ve never imagined. It feels amazing, but I wouldn’t have done it without my teammates – we always make each other shine on court. If it was up to me, I would have chosen all the shooters from my team because we were all amazing. I was hoping that I get selected because I’ve been working so hard this past few months,” says Muhluri Hlatswayo, first-year UJ Accountancy student.
Like a house on fire, the UJ2 ladies replicated UJ1’s performances, playing and winning all eight games against the University of Cape Town (UCT), Sefako Makgatho University (SMU), Durban University of Technology (DUT), University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN), North West University (NWU) Vaal, SMU, Stellenbosch University (Maties 2) and the Independent Institute of Education (IIE).
UJ 2 won 46-26 against DUT to win the B section division.
Two UJ2 women players, namely; Zene De Waal and Gugulethu Mdladla, were selected for the tournament’s Dream Team in division B.
Three of the UJ ladies’ players, Nomfundo Mngomezulu, Owethu Ngubane and Tarle Mathe, have been selected to participate in the Confederation of University and Colleges Sports Associations (CUCSA) games in 2023.
“It means a lot for me and I really appreciate the opportunity, it wasn’t easy. I am thankful for the opportunity. It feels good and I’m really happy since it will be my first time representing SA and being out of the country, it will be much good experience,” said Mngomezulu.
