One of the challenges facing most team sports in South Africa is the many players from far off rural areas which fall by the wayside without ever getting to fulfil their potential.
A quick internet search will show that most who play for the Springbok rugby team matriculated at one of South Africa's top schools. The same goes for the Proteas cricket, hockey and netball teams. There are various reasons for this.
If there is one thing that can't be argued, it is that universities form the backbone of our national sports scene. It is where young aspiring stars get to finetune their skills under the guidance of some of the country's best coaches.
The reality, however, is that not everyone can go study at a university. There are definite academic criteria. For this reason, the announcement that TuksNetball and the TuksSport High School have decided to start a Netball Academy from next year is exciting.
TuksSport High School is already involved in two of the most successful sports development programs in South Africa. It is the Safa Girls Soccer Academy and the Nike Athletics Foundation Trust.
According to Sheryl Botes who has been the head coach since the Academy's inception roughly 119 players went on to represent Banyana Banyana. She ascribes the Academy's success to its holistic approach. Every player is made to realise the importance of having a good education.
"It has become the norm for most of the players to go to university after they matriculated at TuksSport High School. The Academy is in regular contact with most of the universities to help facilitate the process," Botes explained.
Athletes from the Foundation Trust regularly make the news headlines through their heroic exploits on the track.
In 2016 Gift Leotela and Clarence Munyai became the youngest track and field athletes to represent South Africa at an Olympic Games. Both were only 18. Munyai went on to set South African 200m-record when he clocked a time of 19.69s in the 200m.
Sokwakhana Zazini set a world youth record in the 400m-hurdles and then went on to win gold at the World Youth as well as World Junior Championships. He also won a silver medal at the World Student Games.
Sone Mokken will be the head coach for the TuksSport High School Netball Academy.
"What is most important to me when working with young players is to make sure they never feel pressured. They should enjoy what they do. I have found that is when they learn the most.
"What is exciting is that I will get to work with most of the girls for a period of three to five years while they are the TuksSport High School. It means there will be ample time to find out what each player's strengths and weaknesses are and what could be done to ensure they get to be even better.
"The plan is to ensure that the best players get to continue playing after matriculating. If we succeed in doing so, it could mean in a few years from now the national pool from which our Protea team is selected could be much more significant."
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