By Nnusi Gazi.
Protea Warriors made history by becoming the maiden champions of the 2026 Males Super Power Week which is in its inaugural season.
Protea Warriors faced off against USSA in the finals of the weeklong tournament that was held at Wembley Indoor Arena in Johannesburg. At the end of the hour, the game finished 57 – 34 in favor of the Protea Warriors
Both teams secured their finals spots earlier in the day after beating SA Under 23 and eSwatini respectively. Both teams started like a house on fire however, it was Protea Warriors who drew first blood and continued with their dominance. USSA was not sitting and pulled their own punches – at the end of the quarter, both teams were even at 11 all.
Protea Warriors experience came in handy in the second quarter, they pulled away from their opponent as soon as the whistle off and capitalized on their centre passes and possession turnovers – they restricted USSA to only seven goals while they scored double that.
The Protea Warriors continued to pile on the pressure in the third quarter with head coach Shiko Mokaila making some tactical changes in this quarter. South Africa went into the final quarter leading 42- 26
Super Power Week is a males’ netball tournament and a total of ten teams participated including Protea Warriors, SA under 23, Zimbabwe, USSA, Botswana, Royal Bafokeng, Namibia, eSwatini, SANDF and SAPS.
The SPAR Proteas squad who were also in camp in preparation for the 2027 SPAR Challenge in January and England series in February, joined the party and played a few exhibition matches as preparations.
Overall Winners:
Best Defender: Linamanda Bhilli (SA Under 23)
Best MidCourt: Kwandile Sithole (Protea Warriors) and Qiniso Gwala (USSA)
Most Accurate Shooter: Bongani Joy Baleka (USSA)
MVP: Njabulo Nekhavhamba (Protea Warriors).