Janine du Toit knows netball like the back of her hand. She’s been a player, a coach, a manager, a technical official, umpire, selector, and administrator. And now she’s ready to take netball to new heights as Chairperson of Cape Town Netball Federation.
Her grasp of the sport she loves so much helped make her the most suitable candidate to take netball to new heights in the Cape Town region as delegates elected her to the position of Chairperson of Cape Town Netball Federation in November 2021.
She says her committee will strive to build on what Cape Town Netball Federation has, and make it a district to be reckoned with. “We also want to gain the trust of our members and treat each and every member fair and within the rules of CTNF (WP).”
Cape Town will host the Netball World Cup next year, bringing the world’s top teams to the Mother City. Du Toit believes the event – broadcast internationally – will be great for the economy, and a legacy programme is being driven by Western Cape Netball from grassroots level.
“What is very sad about this is that Cape Town Netball has no premises to call home and Cape Town is the hosting city,” she says. “We are floating around and we are ‘boot administrators’. The clubhouse at our previous facility burnt down – there we had an office, meeting space and ample courts to accommodate all our activities. We now lean on other sporting federations and schools to assist us with premises when hosting events. We currently make use of the Chrismar facility.”
With Cape Town such a diverse region, the issue of transformation, or lack of, in sport often rears its ugly head.
But Du Toit, who hails from Bellville and is currently the head coach at Varsity College in Rondebosch and a netball organizer at Bellville High School, believes that CTNF’s main focus has always been on transformation. “We strive to empower members and non-members on all levels and different aspects of netball. The stumbling block we face is proper funding to run transformation projects.”
Du Toit replaced her mentor and role model, Marsha Wagenaar, and will serve for a term of four years. “Marsha molded me into the administrator I am today. Her advice is always valuable.”
Du Toit and Wagenaar shared the office before the former’s rise to the top seat.
“While I was the office secretary of CT (WP), Marsha was the Chairperson of CT (WP),” Du Toit notes. “We actually started our terms together. One day we were seated during an event that CT (WP) hosted and we chatted. I told her that one day I would want to be the Chairperson of CT (WP). The opportunity presented itself much sooner than I expected!”
Du Toit, an executive member of the Cape Town Sports Council in the portfolio for Women and Girls, went to DF Malan High School and studied Sports Management and Coaching at Tygerberg College (now Northlink College). She then studied Kinderkinetics for a further two years at Northlink College.
She seriously got involved during her first year (2003) at college when she had netball as a subject.
“From there it just took off. I got exposed to various aspects and got taught by various leaders. My mom started getting involved with admin when I was still a player at club level. She became part of committees and I followed suit. And here I am!”
