#TuksNetball: Jenny van Dyk is passionate about getting teams to be consistent, win and play in the final

Posted on October 20, 2021

TuksNetball Head of Programme & Head Coach, Jenny van Dyk, is the coach with the "Midas touch". The results are proving. 

Since August, the teams coached by her won four of the five national tournaments they contested. The climax was on Sunday when the Jaguars won the 2021 Telkom Netball League for the fifth consecutive year.

It is impressive to note that since 2017, the Jaguars lost only three of the 57 games they played in the National Netball League. The Southern Stings beat them twice and forced the Jaguars to a draw once. The North-West Flames is the only other team that got the better of the Jaguars over the past five years. 

On Sunday, five of the Jaguars starting line-up were Tuks players, while three more "played" from the bench. It is the second time that Marlize de Bruin of Tuks, captained the team to win a Telkom title. She deservedly ended up being the Player of the Tournament and her fellow teammate, Danielle van Zyl of Tuks, was named as the Best Mid-Court Player of the Tournament. 

In September, Tuks won the USSA Netball Championships title, while Tuks under-19 team, under the headship of de Bruin, were crowned as the 2021 Twizza National Netball Club Championship title winners. The Tuks youngsters also formed the core of the Tshwane team that won the national under-19 tournament. 

This did not just happen. The Tuks head coach is a perfectionist who readily admits hating to lose. 

"The goal never changes. I want every team I coach to play the final. It is essential that the players do because, with every final, they gain confidence. The benefit of this is that they don't panic during pressure situations." 

Still, van Dyk believes in never leaving anything to chance. She has ascribed her success to following a "tickbox system".

"My campaign for any tournament starts with a good game plan. It means trying to figure out every possible scenario beforehand. Still, nothing is ever set in stone. As a coach, I constantly tweak things to see if I can give the players an edge."

A good example is how the Jaguars chose to get the ball to the shooters in the circle during Sunday's final. Every so often, the ball was played low, basically bounced into the shooter's hands.

"I like it when the teams I coach play entertaining netball, but 'pretty' netball does not equate to winning netball. We needed to change our strategy after we lost to the Stings in a round-robin match. The Stings' defenders are pretty tall. So if the ball is played high, it is easy for them to disrupt our play. So it was decided to keep the ball low. A tall player does not like to play from the 'ground' upwards. The plan worked," van Dyk explained. 

"To be honest, I think I fine-tuned my 'recipe for success'. Apart from strategizing, it is all about ensuring the players are mentally and physically up to any challenge." 

- Author Wilhelm De Swardt

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