Varsity Netball is a

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

league featuring teams representing

universities in South Africa This is a list of universities in South Africa. In this list, colleges and universities are defined as accredited, degree-granting, tertiary institutions. As of September 2022, only South African public degree-granting institutions may call thems ...

. It was formed in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

. UFS Kovsies were the inaugural winners and they remain the league's most successful team, having won five titles. It is one of several similar sports competitions that form the

Varsity Sports A varsity team is the highest-level team in a sport or activity representing an educational institution. Varsity teams train to compete against each other during an athletic season or in periodic matches against rival institutions. At high schools ...

series. Others include leagues for men's football,

women's football Women's football most often refers to: * Women's association football Women's football may also refer to: * Women's gridiron football * Women's Australian rules football * Ladies' Gaelic football * Women's rugby league * Women's rugby union ...

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

, men's rugby union, and

women's rugby union Women's rugby union is a full contact team sport based on running with the ball in hand. The same laws are used in men's rugby union with the same sized pitch and same equipment. Women's rugby has become popular recently. These days, women's r ...

History

UFS Kovsies

In 2013, UFS Kovsies won the inaugural tournament. With a team captained by

Maryka Holtzhausen Maryka Holtzhausen (born 2 June 1987) is a former South African netball player. She played in the positions of GA and WA. She was a member of the South Africa national netball team, and competed in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and the 2 ...

, they defeated NWU-Pukke 44–40 in the final. They won further titles in 2014, 2018, and 2021. In 2024, UFS Kovsies won their fifth title, after defeating

UJ Netball University of Johannesburg Netball Club, commonly known as UJ Netball, are a South African netball team based at Kingsway Campus Auckland Park at the University of Johannesburg. Their senior team represents the university in Varsity Netball. The ...

58–55 in the final. UFS Kovsies are closely associated with

Free State Crinums Free State Crinums are a South African netball team based in Bloemfontein. Since 2014, they have represented the Free State in the Telkom Netball League. They were the inaugural league champions. Between 2014 and 2016, Crinums won three succe ...

of the

Telkom Netball League The Premier Netball League is the top level netball league featuring teams from South Africa. It was formed in 2014 and is organised by Netball South Africa. Between 2014 and 2018, due to sponsorship and naming rights arrangements, the league w ...

. In 2018, 2019 and 2020, Crinums were a ''de facto'' Kovsie team. The vast majority of their squad members, including

Lefébre Rademan Lefébre Rademan (born 22 August 1996) is a South African netball player, who has represented the national team. At club level, she plays for Severn Stars in the British Netball Superleague (NSL), and has previously played for Celtic Dragons a ...

and

Khanyisa Chawane Khanyisa Chawane (born 14 January 1996) is a South African netball player. She was selected to represent the South African netball team at the 2019 Netball World Cup and the 2023 Netball World Cup hosted in South Africa. For the 2023 Telkom N ...

, were

University of the Free State The University of the Free State (; Sotho language, Sesotho: ''Yunivesithi ya Freistata'') is a multi-campus public university in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State (province), Free State and the judicial capital of South Africa. It wa ...

students. Crinums head coach, Burta de Kock, was also the head coach of Kovsies.

NWU-Pukke

In 2015 and 2016, with teams featuring

Sigrid Burger Sigrid Burger also simply known as Sigi Burger (born 23 February 1996) is a South African netball player who plays in the positions of goal shooter. UK She was also part of the South African squad which finished at fourth position at the 2019 Ne ...

Renske Stoltz Renske Stoltz is a South African netball player. Early life Stoltz was born in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga before shifting with her family to Rustenburg, North West. She has played netball for the past seventeen years and attended Hoërskool Rustenb ...

and

Jeanté Strydom Jeanté Strydom (born 30 September 1996) is a South Africa netball international. She represented South Africa at the 2023 Netball World Cup. In South Africa, she played for NWU-Pukke and UP Tuks in Varsity Netball and for several teams, mos ...

, NWU-Pukke won two successive titles. In 2015, after finishing the regular season in fourth place, they eliminated two-time defending champions, UFS Kovsies, in semi-final before going onto defeat

Maties Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

50–37 in the final. In 2016 they retained the title following a narrow 56–55 win over UP-Tuks.

UP-Tuks

In 2017, after finishing as runners-up in 2014 and 2016, UP-Tuks and won their first title. Their winning team was coached by Jenny van Dyk, captained by

Shadine van der Merwe Shadine van der Merwe (born 25 November 1992) is a South Africa netball international. She has represented South Africa at the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games and at the 2019 and 2023 Netball World Cups. In South Africa, she played for UP-Tuk ...

and featured

Marlize de Bruin Marlize de Bruin (born 11 November 1994) is a South African sportswomen. As a netball player, she played for UP-Tuks in Varsity Netball and for Gauteng Jaguars in the Premier Netball League. She also represented the South Africa national net ...

and Ine-Marí Venter. In the final, they defeated NWU-Pukke 43–41. In 2019, UP-Tuks won their second title, this time defeating

48–43 in the final. In 2023, UP-Tuks won their third title after defeating

63–61 in the final. UP-Tuks are closely associated with

Gauteng Jaguars Gauteng Jaguars are a netball in South Africa, South African netball team based at the University of Pretoria. Since 2014 in South Africa, 2014, together with Gauteng Golden Fireballs, they have represented Gauteng in the Telkom Netball League. ...

. Since 2017, Jaguars have been winning Premier Netball League titles. The core of their team is made up of UP-Tuks players. Jenny van Dyk, served as head coach of both UP-Tuks and Jaguars.

Teams

Finals

;Notes * Cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa The COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa was part of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). On 5 March 2020, Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize had confirme ...

Notable players

Winning captains

Player of the Tournament

Internationals

;

References

External links

Varsity Netball on Instagram
{{Netball in Africa Netball competitions in South Africa

Netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

Netball leagues in Africa Women's sports leagues in South Africa 2013 establishments in South Africa Sports leagues established in 2013