Former Proteas netball captain Dr Elsje Jordaan has been appointed as head coach of the national team until the World Cup in Liverpool in 2019.
Netball South Africa (NSA) director of coaching Anneline Lewies said Jordaan would work with consultant coaches Norma Plummer and Nicole Cusack, who have contracts with NSA until 2019.
“Jordaan was chosen after an intensive selection process,” said Lewies. “The candidates were given various tasks, including a presentation of how they viewed the task of coach and where they wanted to take the team.
“They also had to analyse a game and say what remedial action should be taken, and then the candidates were interviewed by the selection panel.”
The selection panel comprised Lewies, NSA chief executive Blanche de la Guerre, Plummer, Cusack and a representative of Cricket South Africa, Gift Mathe.
“We invited Mr Mathe to take part so that we had the opinion of an outsider who did not know the candidates and was able to be totally impartial,” said Lewies.
Jordaan’s appointment comes into effect on January 1, 2018, but she will travel with the team to the Quad Series in Australia and New Zealand, and the Test series against Fiji later this month. She will also remain coach of the Fast5 team.
Jordaan said she was very excited about her appointment as head coach. “I am also very happy that I will be working with Norma and Nicole,” she said.
“I have worked with them before and I get on well with them both. I don’t feel threatened by them.
“They will be mentoring me and I can learn so much from them, particularly from Norma, who coached Australia to two World Cup gold medals. I will be sitting between then on the bench when the team is playing, and will be able to get their input.”
Jordaan, who captained the Proteas at the Netball World Cup in Jamaica, coached the Golden Fireballs to third place at the recent Netball Premier League.
She also recently took the South African team to the Junior Maccabi Games in Israel, where they finished third.
The other candidates were South African Under-21 coach Dorette Badenhorst, her assistant Dumisani Chauke and Southern Stings coach Annelie Lucas.