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"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We rise by lifting others.” This is a mantra that the newly installed coach of the Proteas women’s netball team, Jenny van Dyk, swears by.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 42-year-old coach — a gardening enthusiast — was officially </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-02-29-van-dyk-appointed-as-new-proteas-coach-after-rigorous-process/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">placed in the hot seat on Wednesday</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Netball South Africa has tasked her with leading South Africa to their first podium placing at the Netball World Cup since the 1995 edition.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During that showpiece they managed to clinch a silver medal, after being downed by global netball heavyweights Australia in the final. Since then, it’s been a mixed bag of displays for the South Africans at the quadrennial event.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They have managed fifth spot regularly in that period. Their best performance — since that podium almost three decades ago — was when they finished in fourth place during the 2019 spectacle in England. Under the guidance of Australia’s Norma Plummer.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2023 — when they became the first African nation to host the World Cup — </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-08-06-the-world-cup-tournament-scores-plenty-of-points-but-also-drops-the-ball/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South Africa ended in a disappointing sixth place</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It was their lowest placing at the tournament since 2007, when they also ended sixth.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-2074977 size-full\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/TL_2175218.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"5167\" height=\"3080\" /> <em>Jenny van Dyk at SuperSport Studios on 28 February 2024 in Johannesburg. (Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)</em></p>\r\n<h4><b>Idealistic Van Dyk</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In spite of that disappointing display on home soil, the new head of the Proteas team is adamant that she can again lead South Africa to a World Cup medal. A gold one at that. </span>\r\n\r\n<b>Read more in Daily Maverick: </b><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-02-29-van-dyk-appointed-as-new-proteas-coach-after-rigorous-process/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Van Dyk appointed as new Proteas coach after ‘rigorous’ process</span></a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I’m an idealist. I’m a strategist. I’m an analyst. I dream big. That’s just what I do. Ever since I was young, I wanted to win a World Cup. It’s something I want to do,” Van Dyk told journalists, following her official unveiling.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since the first edition in 1963, the perennial powerhouse at the tournament has been Australia. The Aussies boast a staggering 12 gold medals. Neighbours New Zealand are second, with five. Trinidad and Tobago have won it once. That’s where the list of winners ends.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even England and Jamaica — who are regulars on the World Cup podium — have not been able to join the elite club of world champions. So, for the South Africans it will be even tougher to leapfrog that pair.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Never mind the likes of New Zealand, and the dominant Australians. Who themselves are constantly improving.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I know it’s going to take a massive team effort. And I know it’s not going to be a straight line to get to that top performance. But it’s worth a shot,” Van Dyk stated about her ambitions for the national team.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I’m going to do everything in my ability to get to that performance. In saying that, we know what we’re up against. Everybody around us is also not sitting back and waiting for things to happen.”</span>\r\n<h4><b>Match made in netball heaven?</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-11-29-netball-south-africa-has-massive-expectations-for-the-next-proteas-coach/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">an interview with </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Daily Maverick</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at the tail-end of 2023</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Netball SA president Cecilia Molokwane (who has been accused of </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-06-22-netball-sa-president-cecilia-molokwane-called-to-account-for-series-of-racism-mismanagement-and-interference-accusations/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">racism and mismanagement</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by former employees of the federation; accusations she has denied) outlined what the perfect candidate for the Proteas job would look like. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Your work must follow and [speak for you]. Colour is not an issue. Where you are from is not an issue. As long as you’re a coach with credibility, who has what we need in a coach,” Molokwane said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“[We want] a coach that thinks like No 1. Who will coach like No 1. Who will select like No 1. Who will play like No 1. Who will encourage the team like No 1. Someone who will do everything like No 1,” the president added.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Van Dyk is exactly this. The 41-year-old cemented her legacy as one of the best coaches around by clinching the semi-professional domestic Telkom Netball League five times in a row with the Gauteng Jaguars. A run that stretched from 2017 to 2021.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before that sensational streak, Van Dyk and her Jaguars had lacked the predatory instinct to beat bitter rivals, the Crinums. Thrice losing to the Free State-based outfit in the first three finals of the competition, between 2014 and 2016.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1791920 size-full\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/TL_2067522.jpg\" alt=\"Buzzer-beater against mighty Silver Ferns keeps Proteas in the World Cup semifinal game\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1108\" /> <em>Proteas captain Bongiwe Msomi and Gina Crampton of New Zealand during the Netball World Cup 2023 Pool G match between South Africa and New Zealand at CTICC. (Photo: Shaun Roy / Gallo Images / Netball World Cup 2023)</em></p>\r\n<h4><b>Gamechanger</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That is until Pretoria-born Van Dyk received some simple, yet life-changing, words of wisdom from the coach she is replacing at the Proteas helm — Plummer.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I’ve been following Norma Plummer for a while. The first few years that she started coaching the Proteas we were allowed to attend all their camps. I didn’t miss the opportunity to work with her,” Van Dyk told journalists.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I remember back in the day when I was coaching the Jaguars, and we lost against the Crinums in the finals. Then I worked with Norma and she gave me two or three tips that I needed to work on with my team,” the new Proteas coach said about two-time World Cup winner Plummer.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I went back and I applied those simple principles. Then for the next five years I found myself in that top position, winning with the Jaguars. So, over the years, I’ve learnt quite a lot from her. Not always from talking to her [but just observing how she works].”</span>\r\n<h4><b>Once a contender</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ironically, when Plummer first vacated her role as Proteas coach back in 2019, Van Dyk was a contender for the top job in South African netball. However, owing to a medical emergency, she missed her interview. With Dorette Badenhorst announced as the new coach, until her departure in 2022.</span>\r\n\r\n<b>Read more in Daily Maverick: </b><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-10-17-cecilia-molokwane-deflects-allegations-as-netball-sa-names-ceos-successor/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cecilia Molokwane deflects allegations as Netball SA names CEO’s successor</span></a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I believe that’s part of God's plan — I literally could not make it to the interview,” said Hoërskool Oos-Moot alumna Van Dyk. “Things happen for the right reason, when they are supposed to happen. I’m ready for this job now, and I’m excited to start.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Van Dyk starts without long-time Proteas captain Bongiwe Msomi and the colossal Phumza Maweni. The pair, with well over 200 national caps between them, announced their respective retirements in December 2023.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the new coach having been a foot soldier for such a lengthy period in the sport, it won’t be long before new faces don the Proteas colours. </span><b>DM</b>",
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"description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We rise by lifting others.” This is a mantra that the newly installed coach of the Proteas women’s netball team, Jenny van Dyk, swears by.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 42-year-old coach — a gardening enthusiast — was officially </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-02-29-van-dyk-appointed-as-new-proteas-coach-after-rigorous-process/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">placed in the hot seat on Wednesday</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Netball South Africa has tasked her with leading South Africa to their first podium placing at the Netball World Cup since the 1995 edition.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During that showpiece they managed to clinch a silver medal, after being downed by global netball heavyweights Australia in the final. Since then, it’s been a mixed bag of displays for the South Africans at the quadrennial event.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They have managed fifth spot regularly in that period. Their best performance — since that podium almost three decades ago — was when they finished in fourth place during the 2019 spectacle in England. Under the guidance of Australia’s Norma Plummer.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2023 — when they became the first African nation to host the World Cup — </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-08-06-the-world-cup-tournament-scores-plenty-of-points-but-also-drops-the-ball/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South Africa ended in a disappointing sixth place</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It was their lowest placing at the tournament since 2007, when they also ended sixth.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2074977\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"5167\"]<img class=\"wp-image-2074977 size-full\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/TL_2175218.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"5167\" height=\"3080\" /> <em>Jenny van Dyk at SuperSport Studios on 28 February 2024 in Johannesburg. (Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n<h4><b>Idealistic Van Dyk</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In spite of that disappointing display on home soil, the new head of the Proteas team is adamant that she can again lead South Africa to a World Cup medal. A gold one at that. </span>\r\n\r\n<b>Read more in Daily Maverick: </b><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-02-29-van-dyk-appointed-as-new-proteas-coach-after-rigorous-process/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Van Dyk appointed as new Proteas coach after ‘rigorous’ process</span></a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I’m an idealist. I’m a strategist. I’m an analyst. I dream big. That’s just what I do. Ever since I was young, I wanted to win a World Cup. It’s something I want to do,” Van Dyk told journalists, following her official unveiling.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since the first edition in 1963, the perennial powerhouse at the tournament has been Australia. The Aussies boast a staggering 12 gold medals. Neighbours New Zealand are second, with five. Trinidad and Tobago have won it once. That’s where the list of winners ends.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even England and Jamaica — who are regulars on the World Cup podium — have not been able to join the elite club of world champions. So, for the South Africans it will be even tougher to leapfrog that pair.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Never mind the likes of New Zealand, and the dominant Australians. Who themselves are constantly improving.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I know it’s going to take a massive team effort. And I know it’s not going to be a straight line to get to that top performance. But it’s worth a shot,” Van Dyk stated about her ambitions for the national team.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I’m going to do everything in my ability to get to that performance. In saying that, we know what we’re up against. Everybody around us is also not sitting back and waiting for things to happen.”</span>\r\n<h4><b>Match made in netball heaven?</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-11-29-netball-south-africa-has-massive-expectations-for-the-next-proteas-coach/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">an interview with </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Daily Maverick</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at the tail-end of 2023</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Netball SA president Cecilia Molokwane (who has been accused of </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-06-22-netball-sa-president-cecilia-molokwane-called-to-account-for-series-of-racism-mismanagement-and-interference-accusations/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">racism and mismanagement</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by former employees of the federation; accusations she has denied) outlined what the perfect candidate for the Proteas job would look like. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Your work must follow and [speak for you]. Colour is not an issue. Where you are from is not an issue. As long as you’re a coach with credibility, who has what we need in a coach,” Molokwane said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“[We want] a coach that thinks like No 1. Who will coach like No 1. Who will select like No 1. Who will play like No 1. Who will encourage the team like No 1. Someone who will do everything like No 1,” the president added.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Van Dyk is exactly this. The 41-year-old cemented her legacy as one of the best coaches around by clinching the semi-professional domestic Telkom Netball League five times in a row with the Gauteng Jaguars. A run that stretched from 2017 to 2021.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before that sensational streak, Van Dyk and her Jaguars had lacked the predatory instinct to beat bitter rivals, the Crinums. Thrice losing to the Free State-based outfit in the first three finals of the competition, between 2014 and 2016.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1791920\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"2000\"]<img class=\"wp-image-1791920 size-full\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/TL_2067522.jpg\" alt=\"Buzzer-beater against mighty Silver Ferns keeps Proteas in the World Cup semifinal game\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1108\" /> <em>Proteas captain Bongiwe Msomi and Gina Crampton of New Zealand during the Netball World Cup 2023 Pool G match between South Africa and New Zealand at CTICC. (Photo: Shaun Roy / Gallo Images / Netball World Cup 2023)</em>[/caption]\r\n<h4><b>Gamechanger</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That is until Pretoria-born Van Dyk received some simple, yet life-changing, words of wisdom from the coach she is replacing at the Proteas helm — Plummer.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I’ve been following Norma Plummer for a while. The first few years that she started coaching the Proteas we were allowed to attend all their camps. I didn’t miss the opportunity to work with her,” Van Dyk told journalists.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I remember back in the day when I was coaching the Jaguars, and we lost against the Crinums in the finals. Then I worked with Norma and she gave me two or three tips that I needed to work on with my team,” the new Proteas coach said about two-time World Cup winner Plummer.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I went back and I applied those simple principles. Then for the next five years I found myself in that top position, winning with the Jaguars. So, over the years, I’ve learnt quite a lot from her. Not always from talking to her [but just observing how she works].”</span>\r\n<h4><b>Once a contender</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ironically, when Plummer first vacated her role as Proteas coach back in 2019, Van Dyk was a contender for the top job in South African netball. However, owing to a medical emergency, she missed her interview. With Dorette Badenhorst announced as the new coach, until her departure in 2022.</span>\r\n\r\n<b>Read more in Daily Maverick: </b><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-10-17-cecilia-molokwane-deflects-allegations-as-netball-sa-names-ceos-successor/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cecilia Molokwane deflects allegations as Netball SA names CEO’s successor</span></a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I believe that’s part of God's plan — I literally could not make it to the interview,” said Hoërskool Oos-Moot alumna Van Dyk. “Things happen for the right reason, when they are supposed to happen. I’m ready for this job now, and I’m excited to start.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Van Dyk starts without long-time Proteas captain Bongiwe Msomi and the colossal Phumza Maweni. The pair, with well over 200 national caps between them, announced their respective retirements in December 2023.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the new coach having been a foot soldier for such a lengthy period in the sport, it won’t be long before new faces don the Proteas colours. </span><b>DM</b>",
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Jenny van Dyk at SuperSport Studios on 28 February 2024 in Johannesburg. (Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
Proteas captain Bongiwe Msomi and Gina Crampton of New Zealand during the Netball World Cup 2023 Pool G match between South Africa and New Zealand at CTICC. (Photo: Shaun Roy / Gallo Images / Netball World Cup 2023)