Berto Mnikina had one message for his Harry Gwala under-19 team when they arrived in Boksburg: they had not travelled to Gauteng to make up the numbers.
Five days later, the coach from one of KwaZulu-Natal’s most rural districts stood at the centre of a golden celebration, his side crowned 2026 Telkom Netball Championships U19 A champions after a 36-29 victory over two-time defending champions Tshwane A at Hoërskool Dr EG Jansen in Boksburg on Friday, 10 July 2026.
The title completed a remarkable turnaround. Twelve months earlier, Harry Gwala finished fifth at the 2025 edition in Bellville. This time they swept through the week unbeaten, and Mnikina says the foundation was laid long before the first centre pass.
“We can win. We can go on if we can fight together and train almost every day.”
Harry Gwala Under-19 A Head Coach, Berto Mnikina
The preparation stretched across every spare hour. Road work, mental conditioning and daily sessions became the rhythm of the campaign, even as several of the squad juggled their final school year.
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“There are a few that are doing matric, but with their spare time, we used that opportunity when we were preparing.”
The intent showed from the opening whistle. Harry Gwala won all four of their matches on Monday and Tuesday, starting with a tense 39-37 victory over a tall and powerful Dr Kenneth Kaunda outfit the coaching staff had studied closely.
“We quite understand their playing method. So we were very motivated to win them with a few goals.”
Thursday brought the collision everyone anticipated. Harry Gwala and Tshwane A played to a 36-36 round-robin draw that left the two locked at the top of the log on 13 points apiece, and Mnikina admits his team had to conquer their own apprehension as much as the opposition.
“We’ve been afraid to play with Tshwane, to be honest,” said Mnikina. The fear never became paralysis. The coaching staff spent the week watching the champions and plotting the fight they would bring if the two sides met again.
“Yes, they can beat us, they can beat us, but we will fight. That’s what we did.”
First, though, came a Thursday night semi-final that tested every ounce of the squad’s resilience. Harry Gwala edged Johannesburg A, a fast and athletic side whose style mirrored their own, 35-33 in a nail-biter, then turned around less than 24 hours later for the final.
“So we just block them on the centre court because that’s where they are strong, on the centre court. Yes, the girls just did that.”
The final itself was decided, in the coach’s telling, by discipline and homework. Tshwane A were forced into substitution after substitution as Harry Gwala’s man-to-man press closed every channel, and Mnikina points to the third quarter as the moment the title was won.
“We played with them. We drew with them. But we studied them. We were watching their videos.”
Managing a 12-member squad across five high-intensity days demanded another kind of leadership. A former athlete himself, Mnikina made certain the players outside the starting seven understood their worth.
“We told them that all reserves are not there to have vacations, but they are there to play.”
At the heart of the on-court effort stood Mbali Diphoko, the tournament’s official Best Shooter and a player Mnikina has trained since under-12 level. The coach handed his captain a role that stretched far beyond shooting.
“As you are a captain, you will act as a coach in the fire because we [Coaches] are not there, we are outside.”
Alongside Diphoko rose Sinegugu Gamede, crowned U19 Player of the Tournament, a talent Mnikina first spotted playing local games in the district before asking her parents to let him develop her.
“She has a potential. She can do this. If we can invest in her, she can do this. So what she’s doing now is just expected.”
For a district of small rural towns, the trophy means far more than gold medals. Mnikina believes it will change how netball is seen at home and attract the sponsors and donations his players need.
“Not only soccer and rugby the sport, but netball is the sport, so that trophy is very important to us.”
The mission is deeply personal. Mnikina grew up playing soccer, watching girls in his community overlooked while boys were handed every opportunity, and he decided to change it. “Let me invest in girls. Let me invest in younger girls. Let me show them that they are also humans. They can do it.”
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The proof of that investment is already earning a living. Refiloe Nketsa, a product of his development programme from the same school, has turned netball into a livelihood.
“They see now Refiloe is earning a salary. She’s in a contract. She’s bringing the bread on the table.”
With that investment comes responsibility, and Mnikina speaks with striking clarity about the duty of men in positions of authority over young girls.
“We cannot take any advantage of them now that they are poor or from the poor areas,” said Mnikina.
His call to fellow coaches and administrators is a simple one. “Let’s work together and make sure that a girl child is successful.”
The work has not paused for celebration. Mnikina is already taking his next generation, girls of 15, 16 and 17, into the open A section of the provincial league where Telkom Netball League players compete, insisting the hard lessons come early.
“You must go there and be beaten so that you can learn netball,” he tells them. He is quick to share the credit with the assistant coaches and the network of school and local coaches who groom talent across the district and bring it through to him.
“To work with people, I always say no one can work alone. You have to work with other people.”
And after a week that changed everything for Harry Gwala netball, the champion coach believes the story is only beginning for a group of girls who train and dream on a single court in a community of no-fee schools.
“Let me first appreciate the opportunity we get from gsport. I know a lot. I’ve been following the page on Facebook,” said Mnikina.
Main Photo Caption: Berto Mnikina guided Harry Gwala to their first Telkom Netball Championships U19 A title with a 36-29 victory over defending champions Tshwane A at Hoërskool Dr EG Jansen in Boksburg on Friday, 10 July 2026. All Photos: Supplied
Photo 2 Caption: Harry Gwala went unbeaten through the 2026 Telkom Netball Championships to claim the U19 A crown.
Photo 3 Caption: Daily training and a fighting spirit carried Harry Gwala from fifth in 2025 to unbeaten TNC champions in 2026, says Mnikina.
Photo 4 Caption: Girls from rural KwaZulu-Natal can put bread on the table through netball, the message driving Mnikina’s development mission.
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