World Cup Preparation: City welcomes the Proteas, Ugandan and Namibian netball teams to Cape Town
26 March 2021
The 2021 SPAR Challenge is under way in Cape Town – one of several events leading up to the 2023 Netball World Cup, that will be hosted in the Mother City.
The City of Cape Town is pleased to host the latest major netball series as part of the build-up to the 2023 Netball World Cup.
The Proteas are taking on Uganda and Namibia in the SPAR Challenge, currently under way at the Cape Town International Convention Centre until 31 March 2021.
In the last two years, Cape Town has hosted the Africa Netball Cup featuring seven of the continent’s top Netball nations. This was followed by a hard fought series between the Proteas and the England Roses in late 2019.
‘The SPAR Challenge provides us with an opportunity to once again demonstrate our capabilities as a premier events destination that has earned us accolades such as World’s Leading Festival and Event Destination during 2018 and 2020. It also provides an opportunity for Cape Town, the CTICC and Netball South Africa to showcase that we can successfully host an entertaining and Covid-19 free event for the 2023 showpiece – Africa’s first Netball World Cup,’ said Executive Mayor, Alderman Dan Plato.
Continental and international tournaments such as the SPAR Challenge have the potential to raise the profile of netball, which is one of the most popular women's participation sports in South Africa, and provide inspiration to many young women aspiring to play professionally.
‘The City of Cape Town is proud to be a partner to initiatives that seek to develop women’s sports and potentially provide platforms for emerging players, umpires and officials. We have no doubt that this event will generate further interest in netball at community level, but will also be an indicator of our readiness to host the World Cup two years from now. Cape Town is developing quite the track record for hosting premier sporting events, and we hope to attract even more sporting showpieces in future,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.
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City of Cape Town, Media Office
