Watching the recent Netball Quad Series in Durban it was striking how big the gap was between the fifth-ranked Proteas and the top three sides in the world.
The chasm between world champions Australia and South Africa remains big even though the Proteas have made positive advances over the last year or so.
South Africa have been the perennial underdogs playing against these sides and narrowing the margin of defeat has become the measuring stick in recent years.
During the South African leg of the Quad Series the home side came tantalisingly close to beating England, finishing regulation play on equal terms with them before losing in extra time.
And South Africa’s 16-point defeat to the Australian Diamonds was their lowest losing margin against the world’s top side.
So there are encouraging signs and it must be remembered that South Africa are amateurs playing against professionals.
Female sport in South Africa still lags behind male codes in almost all aspects, from incentives to providing athletes with the technical support to excel.
A lot of the blame should be laid at the door of the federations that under-sell their product or have been slow to embrace professionalism.
That is a South African disease where we prefer a bunch of amateurs who fight over board positions instead of finding ways to grow and sustain the sport.
While rugby went the professional route back in 1996, netball has taken years to get to a level where athletes could earn some sort of a living.
New Zealand and Australia set the pace through the semi-professional ANZ Championships in 2008 where players earned salaries.
Rugby forged lucrative partnerships when Australia, New Zealand and the South African rugby boards formed Sanzar which resulted in the formation of Super Rugby.
Netball has only recently formed a similar partnership with England, New Zealand, Australia to create the Quad Series.
It boggles the mind that netball had to take so long to come up with a competition that seemed only natural.
The benefits of the series should be felt down the line when more and more of South Africa’s top players are lured away to play in Australia, New Zealand and England.
Star defender Karla Mostert, who has already made a mark in England, will become the first South African to play in the Australian league which is considered the best in the world while Lenine Potgieter is New Zealand-bound.
While it is a promising development that the country’s talent is being recognised in the top leagues, it is time for South Africa take local netball to the next level.
Proteas coach Norma Plummer said while the sport desperately needed to go professional in South Africa, this was still far into the future. “We’re a long way off; it has taken Australia a long time to get paid in a fully professional structure. I really hope it happens down the line because we need to get South Africa, and other African countries on board for the sport to survive and make it into the Olympics.”
Netball stakeholders in this country should make it a top priority that the sport turns professional otherwise we will continue to count the goal deficit instead of challenging for silverware.