Maties will kick off their 2016 Varsity Netball campaign at home next week when they play defending champions NWU-Pukke at the Coetzenburg Centre on Monday, 5 September.

For both players and supporters, this contest will probably bring back memories of the 2015 Varsity Netball final. Last year NWU-Pukke beat Maties 50-37 in front of a packed Coetzenburg Centre to take the Varsity Netball crown.

Although they are playing the defending champions in a repeat of last year's final, they are not approaching it as a rematch, said Maties captain Juline Rossouw.

"It's a new season, a new start and a new chance to show what we are made of. We are focusing on us as a team."

The team from Stellenbosch University has been going from strength to strength in die Varsity Netball competition, improving from fourth place in 2014 to second place last year.

Rossouw said her team is raring to go. "We can hardly wait for Monday to come. We're very excited and ready for action."

Their goal for this season is to equal and improve on last year's achievement.

"We know what it takes to reach the final and we are going to work even harder this year. We want to see progress and improvement with each match."

Now in its fourth season, Varsity Netball continues to lay a platform for university netball players to showcase their talent and skills.

"We see Varsity Netball as the incubator for Netball SA," said Blanche De La Guerre, CEO of Netball SA. "And our dream is that every school-leaving girl may get an opportunity to play in such a well organised and perfectly structured environment."

Over the past three years the number of national netball players to emerge from Varsity Netball has increased, according to a Varsity Sports press release.

Recent results by top netball teams have underlined the success of Varsity Netball's platform.

"At the recent 2016 World University Netball Championship in Miami the South African student team were crowned champions, and we were proud to celebrate the fact that the entire team and management was comprised of Varsity Netball players and coaches," said Jana Arlow, Varsity Netball code manager. "These ladies play with such passion and love for the game and will certainly do their universities proud during the 2016 Varsity Netball tournament."

Get your ticket for the match and show your colours in support of your team. For the full list of fixtures, click here.

Play starts at 19:00.

Buy tickets:

• Use the Varsity Sports SA Mobile App and receive one free ticket.
• Visit http://varsitysportssa.com/ and buy tickets online for R10.
• Available on the day for R20 (if available).

Photo:

The Maties Netball team launched their Varsity Netball campaign with a special function on Monday. The team is: Suné Claassens (manager), Abeline Olivier, Saskia Stander, Megan Gossmann, Jo Prins and Carla Werth. Middle: Charmaine Baard, Allison Malgas and Sasha-Lee Petersen. Back: Cari Swart, Annerine Snyman, Nelandré Mostert, Juline Rossouw (captain), Somari Els, Christine Behan (head coach) and Stephanie Brandt.​