While she was pleased with the general level of play in the Brutal Fruit Netball Premier League play-offs, national coach Norma Plummer called for further expansion of the annual campaign.
The semi-professional league, launched in 2014, was initially confined to Pretoria, but this year’s series was held in Durban, Cape Town and Bloemfontein.
Plummer, however, felt the six-week competition would need to be extended in order to see significant improvement in the Proteas squad, after the Australian-based mentor turned out to watch the last few rounds.
A 26-member provisional national squad was announced by Netball SA on Tuesday, ahead of a camp in Pretoria next month in the build-up to the international season.
The training group included 11 of the 12 Proteas squad members who competed in the team’s last match against New Zealand in February, when they had ended their inaugural four-nation Quad Series campaign without a win.
Phumza Maweni (Player-of-the-Series), Shadine van der Merwe (best defender), Rome Dreyer (best centre) and Renske Stoltz (best shooter), who all won individual awards in the Brutal Fruit Netball Premier League, are part of the squad.
