CUT coach confident of an upset against bigger teams

Varsity Netball 2026 is CUT’s first time playing in the competition, and while it has been a debut season full of hard lessons, the team has shown glimpses of what they are capable of.

It is for this reason that coach Martha Mosoahle-Samm is stressing the importance of having a second Free State team in Varsity Netball.

Mosoahle-Samm, who also coaches the Crinums and the Botswana national team, believes growing the sport and broadening the pool of players remains paramount. For her, CUT’s participation in Varsity Netball is invaluable to both the university and the wider Free State netball structure.

“Yes, it’s quite important to have a team such as CUT raising their hand as well and participating in Varsity Netball for the first time. I think it’s great for the province, it’s great for the district, just for high-performance purposes, you know.

“In the past we only had Kovsies, and now having CUT as another high-performance centre makes it easier for us as coaches, especially elite coaches, to have a big pool of players.”

CUT recently claimed their first Varsity Netball victory when they beat Madibaz during the second bumper weekend in Bloemfontein. Mosoahle-Samm says that breakthrough was far more than just another result on the scoreboard. It was an important confidence boost for a young team finding its feet on the national stage.

“The victory against Madibaz was a very important one, very crucial, in the sense that it reminded the girls that it is possible, regardless of whether you are new in the competition or not. But also, it gave them a lot of confidence going into the last matches that are going to be quite demanding.

“Definitely, an upset is coming, we’ve done it before during USSA, where we went out and beat two of the biggest teams in the competition. So it was a nice reminder to the girls to say it can be done.”

CUT will wrap up their maiden Varsity Netball campaign when they face Maties and city rivals UFS Kovsies in the final bumper weekend in Pretoria.

Fixtures HERE.

Tickets HERE.