Bongiwe Msomi (born 19 January 1988) is a South African

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

player. She plays in the positions of Centre and Wing Attack. Msomi has a National Diploma in Sport Management through the

Durban University of Technology The Durban University of Technology (DUT) is a multi-campus university situated in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was formed in 2002 following the merger of Technikon Natal and ML Sultan Technikon and it was initially known as the Durban Instit ...

. Msomi is the founder of Bongi Msomi Netball Project, a non-profit company that focuses on raising the profile of netball through skills development, the transfer of knowledge and experiences gained, as well as the holistic development of the coach/player/child and athlete. in her hometown Mpumalanga Township unit 4 Hammarsdale.

Early life, family and early netball development

Msomi was born and raised in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, South Africa, growing up in Hammarsdale. Msomi is the fifth of eight children. Her mother was a machinist, making clothing in a factory. Her father passed away at the beginning of her career. Msomi's younger sister plays netball provincially. Msomi had no role models in netball when she was young as there was no professional netball on television, nor did she know of any black netball players. Msomi started playing netball in 2004 at the age of 16 while at Chief Luthayi High School in Durban. In her first match she was a fill-in player playing the position Wing Defence when the team was one player short. She did not have training shoes or kit at the time and was provided an old kit by the school coach S’thembiso G. Mncwabe so she could continue to play. Msomi would change out of the sports kit at the courts before returning home where she would not be allowed to wear the clothes at home for cultural reasons. Msomi credits Mncwabe, her first netball coach with beginning and supporting her netball career. Msomi reported that Mncwabe used his own money to buy balls, cones and shoes to allow the women he coached to play. In 2005 Msomi was chosen to represent eThekwini Region at the Salga KZN-DSR Games and she changed position from goal attack to centre. After representing eThekwini at the Salga KZN-DSR Games, Msomi joined the under-19 team and then the under-21 team. Msomi captained the under-21s team at the 2009 World Youth Netball Championships in the Cook Islands. Msomi captained the under-21s team at the 2009 World Youth Netball Championships in the Cook Islands.

National career

Msomi played for KwaZulu-Natal’s Kingdom Stars in South Africa, captaining the team in the Brutal Fruit Premier League. In 2010, Msomi was invited to the SPAR Proteas training camp but missed the cut for the squad. The following year she was again part of the SPAR Proteas training camp and made the team for the

2011 World Netball Championships The 2011 World Netball Championships was the 13th edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball. It was held in Singapore from 3–10 July. All 48 matches were played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Sin ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. Msomi made her debut for the Proteas in 2011 and became deputy to

Maryka Holtzhausen Maryka Holtzhausen (born 2 June 1987) is a former South African netball player. She played in the positions of GA and WA. She was a member of the South Africa national netball team, and competed in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and the 2 ...

in 2013. On 18 August 2016 Msomi was announced as captain of the SPAR Proteas for their tour of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

for the Quad Series. She succeeded Holtzhausen who suffered a knee injury in the SPAR national championships in

the previous week. Msomi has remained the captain of the SPAR Proteas squad for the 2017 and 2018 Quad Series. Msomi led her team to their first ever Quad Series victory against the England Roses at

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

, New Zealand beating them 54-51 in 2017.

International career

Msomi’s first international netball contract was in the UK for

Surrey Storm Surrey Storm is an English netball team based at the University of Surrey. Their senior team plays in the Netball Superleague. Between 2001 and 2005 they played in the Super Cup as London Hurricanes. After forming a partnership with Brunel U ...

in the UK Netball Superleague. Tamsin Greenway, the Surrey Storm coach first saw her play at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

in Glasgow and later made Msomi an offer to play for the team. Msomi played Wing Attack and Centre for Surrey in 2015, then the

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. T ...

in 2017. Both teams were coached by

Tamsin Greenway Tamsin Greenway (born 6 October 1982) is a former England netball international. She was a member of the England teams that won bronze medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and at the 2011 and 2015 Netball World Cups. Between 2006 and 2018 she ...

and in both years the teams won the league. In 2017 Msomi received an offer from the Adelaide Thunderbirds, and in 2018 joined the team as to play in Australia’s Suncorp Super Netball. At the end of the 2018 season she returned to the UK to play for

Wasps Netball Wasps Netball were an English netball team based at the Coventry Building Society Arena in Coventry, Warwickshire. Wasps Netball was formed in 2016 as a partnership with the Premiership Rugby team, Wasps RFC. Since 2017 their senior team has ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Msomi, Bongiwe South African netball players 1988 births Living people Netball players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Adelaide Thunderbirds players 2019 Netball World Cup players South African expatriate netball people in Australia South African expatriate netball people in England Wasps Netball players Netball Superleague players Surrey Storm players Durban University of Technology alumni Suncorp Super Netball players Commonwealth Games competitors for South Africa 2011 World Netball Championships players