Lenize Potgieter (born 2 May 1994) is a South African professional

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

player who currently plays for

Manchester Thunder Manchester Thunder are an English netball team based in Manchester. Their senior team plays in the Netball Superleague. In 2005–06, Thunder were founding members of the league. They were Superleague champions in 2012, 2014, 2019 and 2022. B ...

and the South African national team.

Early life

Potgieter was born in Polokwane, Limpopo before moving to

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

to pursue her high school career at Hoërskool Menlopark and further her studies and netball career. She has played netball for the past seventeen years.

Career

Lenize has represented her province of

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

at respective provincial netball tournaments. She played for the

Gauteng Jaguars The Netball League of South Africa (known for sponsorship purposes as the Telkom Netball League) is the leading semi-professional netball league in South Africa. History On 16 April 2014, Netball South Africa announced that the first semi-pr ...

in the

Brutal Fruit Netball Cup The Netball League of South Africa (known for sponsorship purposes as the Telkom Netball League) is the leading semi-professional netball league in South Africa. History On 16 April 2014, Netball South Africa announced that the first semi-prof ...

for three years as well as represented her university in the local varsity championship. Also, she earned her first international cap in the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

. Potgieter was also in the Spar Proteas squad that competed against the

Silver Ferns The New Zealand national netball team, commonly known as the Silver Ferns, represent New Zealand in international netball. The team take their nickname from the Silver Tree Fern (''Cyathea dealbata''), which is an emblem for many New Zealand s ...

in the Taini Jamieson Trophy whereby she displayed some excellent netball and earned the MVP award despite the Spar Proteas losing to the world ranked number two. She also got selected to represent her country at the

2015 Netball World Cup The Netball World Cup Sydney 2015 (NWC2015) was the 14th edition of the INF Netball World Cup, the premier competition in international netball. It was held from 7–16 August, in Sydney, Australia, which secured hosting rights after defeating ...

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

whereby the Spar Proteas finished in fifth. The following year she got signed by

Team Bath TeamBath is the University of Bath's sporting organisation. In addition to entering teams in BUCS intervarsity competitions, TeamBath has also entered teams in national leagues and competitions. Team Bath F.C. reached the first round proper of ...

in the

Netball Superleague The Netball Super League is a top level netball league featuring teams from the United Kingdom. The league is organised by England Netball but features teams based in Netball in England, England, Netball in Wales, Wales and Netball in Scotland, S ...

before being snapped up by

Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic are a New Zealand netball team based in Hamilton. Between 1999 and 2007, they played in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017, Magic have ...

of the

ANZ Premiership The ANZ Premiership is the top level netball league featuring teams from New Zealand. In 2017 it replaced the ANZ Championship, which also included teams from Australia, as the top level netball league in New Zealand. It is organised by Netball ...

in 2017. She stayed at Waikato for two seasons before moving to

Southern Steel Southern Steel are a New Zealand netball team based in Invercargill. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball South in the ANZ Premiership. Netball South is the governing body that ...

ahead of the 2019 season. At the end of the 2019 ANZ Premiership season, Potgieter was signed by the

Queensland Firebirds Queensland Firebirds are an Australian netball team based in Brisbane, Queensland. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship and between 1997 and 2007, they played in the ...

as an injury replacement player for the rest of the Australian domestic season. On 21 June 2019, it was announced Potgieter will be playing for

Adelaide Thunderbirds Adelaide Thunderbirds are an Australian netball team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship and between 1997 and 2007, they played ...

in the 2020 season. Potgieter was signed by Netball Super League side

prior to the start of the 2022 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potgieter, Lenize South African netball players 1994 births Living people Netball Superleague players Team Bath netball players 2019 Netball World Cup players South African expatriate netball people in Australia South African expatriate netball people in England South African expatriate netball people in New Zealand ANZ Premiership players Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic players Southern Steel players Queensland Firebirds players Suncorp Super Netball players Adelaide Thunderbirds players 2015 Netball World Cup players Manchester Thunder players