With eye on future, Proteas captain Bongiwe Msomi admits it's decision time

After defeat to Uganda to end their Netball World Cup campaign on a bitterly disappointing note, the elephant in the room was the futures of veterans Bongiwe Msomi, Karla Pretorius and Phumza Maweni. 

Captain Msomi, 35, and her vice-captain Pretorius, 33, joined coach Norma Plummer at the post-match press conference to reflect on the tournament where they finished sixth. 

“If we want to stop, we will stop knowing that we can’t continue to perform — it is just decisions to make after this,” Msomi said. 

Pretorius also could not shed light on her future. “Only time will tell,” she said. 

The other senior player in the team at the World Cup was defender Maweni, 38.

With the tournament bringing to an end a building cycle for the Proteas, speculation can only be that at some point the older players will consider stepping aside to make way for the younger generation. 

Plummer has given opportunities to inexperienced players Izette Griesel, Nichole Taljaard, Khanyisa Chawane, Ine-Marí Venter, Jeante Strydom, Owethu Ngubane, Elmeré van der Berg, Shadine van der Merwe, Nicola Smith, Refiloe Nketsa and Lefébre Rademan. 

Asked if she still has the appetite to continue playing, Maweni, who was playing at her third World Cup, said she hasn’t decided what she will do. 

“To represent your country is always an honour, and the time will come in the future for me to move away from the game and give youngsters a chance,” she said, adding she will not be returning to the UK where she played for Team Bath Netball in the Netball Super League.

It is not only players whose futures are uncertain. Plummer is not certain if she will continue with the team until the end of the year, where she is set to retire. 

“I said I will coach the girls in Australia in October but after there is no full-on tour. So, until NSA [Netball South Africa] know what they are doing, I would like to assist one of the coaches. 

“Until they make decisions, I am not going to jump up and down and say I am available because I may not be until I know what their plans are. There could a change of team manager or CEO. 

“So when I come in to coach a team, I just want to coach and I don’t want to deal with the politics and all of that because it takes away from what the job is.

“My job is coaching the team and the organisation has to run by itself.”