By Kate Parry
The Netball Regional League came to a close in the Grand Final on 12 May with a hard-fought game between Maties and the All Stars, a netball club in the Stellenbosch area that consists of a handful of Maties alumni. The teams were equally matched, finishing the game 43–43, resulting in overtime where the All Stars took the lead, winning 50–49.
The game began with a slow start for Maties with 8–12 in the first quarter. Maties soon got their momentum as the defence began making multiple turnovers which led them to overtake the All Stars, ending the second quarter with 24–22. In the second half of the game, the teams were evenly balanced, leaving both the third and fourth quarters in a draw.
The atmosphere was tense with anticipation going into overtime, resulting in an “exhilarating game” seen by spectator and player for the men’s Maties basketball team, John Adewumi. The crowd sat on the edge of their seats as Adewumi remarked that “anyone could have won the game”.
Iselle Acker, goal shooter for Maties, said, “If I look back on how we played [the All Stars] last time, we lost by 10 goals, so how much we grew in the past few months is insane.” Acker also stated that she was proud of how the team made a “comeback when [it was] so behind at the start” and “everyone showed their grit and their fight”.
Goalkeeper for the All Stars and former Maties player, Syntiche Kabuya, reflected on the last time the All Stars and Maties faced off against each other, saying that “[Maties] lost by a bigger margin”. Kabuya noted that Maties’ improvement is “really amazing to watch because Maties will always be [her] home.” Maties’ progress was also noticed by spectators, as Adewumi remarked, “If this is the level of the Maties ladies netball team, then they’re going to go very far this year.”
