Orange Army sweeps USSA netball as men and women are crowned champs

The University of Johannesburg (UJ) was showing off at this year’s University Sport South Africa Netball Championships.

Both the women’s A and the men’s team won the 2025 edition of the USSA Netball Championships.

The Bongiwe Msomi-led side swept past the University of the Free State 42-41 to earn their first gold medal in the competition.

The UJ men’s side are only the second team to win this competition, following the introduction of the men’s category in 2024.

USSA saw men’s netball growing around the world and felt it was important to have a men’s division as well, which will also fare well for national teams when selecting players.

The Orange Army side defeated the University of Pretoria 40-36 in the final having walked away as the runners-up in the inaugural competition.

The 2024 women’s A champions, the University of Pretoria managed to take home the bronze medal after defeating Stellenbosch University 44-39 in the third match playoff.

The Orange Army had sent three teams to this year’s competition and all three finished in the top four while two came back with gold medals.

Msomi is pleased with how the teams did at the competition. The women’s side only lost one match in the competition, during the group stages and edged out last year’s winners, Tuks, who they had lost to in the 2024 finals.

“Coming to the USSAs this year we had the mindset of wanting to go back home with the gold. But we knew it was going to be tough because we didn’t have most of the players we had last year. It was a chance to see who fills up the gaps of the missing players and prepare for what would come and have a mindset of a winning culture.

"We played in four finals in a row and being able to take it this year I can’t explain what it means to us. It didn’t come overnight and a lot of people know our journey,” says Msomi.

The former Spar Proteas captain says the aim is to change the face of UJ netball and make it attractive for anyone who wants to compete in university netball.

She says the university has been supportive in helping the teams do well in competitions.

“I don’t think people understand how hard the players we work with put in and it is incredible to see how they respect us as coaches but more so the plans we have for them. The males had their first USSAs last year and fell short in the final but this year they came in hard. They didn’t lose a match throughout the competition, which is incredible.

"It also speaks to the standard we set for UJ Netball and just to change the perception around the name. I hope this speaks to not another university but a university that you would want to come to (for netball), a university you can respect,” she adds.

Meanwhile, the Central University of Technology Bloemfontein’s performance at the competition will see them competing in the 2026 Varsity Netball tournament following their finish in the top eight of the USSA champs.

Coach Martha Mosoahle-Samm took over the reins in 2020 and has over the years turned the team into a worthy competitor.

Mosoahle-Samm says it has taken hard work to get her side to move from the third tier of university netball to the top eight sides.

“When I took over, CUT was in the C section, meaning it was more of a recreational netball-playing university. We had to work hard, and I had to create a culture of competitiveness instead of just being recreational.

"When we won the C section and got promoted to the B section, the interest grew and players realised that there’s proper coaching and there’s a winning team,” explains Mosoahle-Samm.

The Free State Crinums coach says the team went into the USSA Championships with the mind to stay and build in the top tier, only to make it into the top eight in their first year in the A section.

“The mindset was strong. I have always made sure that they create that kind of mindset. I don’t just coach players, I want to coach players with character, and I make sure I invest a lot of time in their characters. The work ethic is something I instilled from the beginning.

"We went from training three times a week to having individual sessions where I worked with players on a one-on-one basis. We also made sure we started building individual players who could represent the province. We had some under-19 and under-21 players in the team,” she says.