Lenize Potgieter signs with Steel for 2019

South African shooting star Lenize Potgieter will add even more firepower to the ranks of the Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel in 2019.

The SPAR Proteas shooter bolsters a formidable line-up of players committed to returning to the southern franchise for the 2019 ANZ Premiership season.
Steel has re-signed its entire starting line-up which successfully claimed its second championship title with a phenomenal one-goal victory over the Pulse recently. The only exception is captain Wendy Frew who previously announced her retirement from the game.

Shooters Te Paea Selby-Rickit and Jennifer O’Connell, midcourters Gina Crampton and Shannon Francois and defenders Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit and Courtney Elliott will be gunning for the hat-trick.

Te Paea will mark her eighth season with the southern franchise, Te Huinga embarks on her seventh after a stint at the Pulse, while Crampton Francois will line up for their sixth.

For 24-year-old Potgieter, who is presently at home in Pietersburg, South Africa following national trials, the prospect of venturing south to the Steel after two years with the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic was ‘exciting but nerve-racking’.

“It was a tough decision. I've made friends while being at the Magic and Waikato became my home for two years but sometimes you've got to be bold and challenge yourself,” she said.

“I've heard and seen great things from the community-perspective with the Steel - that everyone is kind, caring and loving.

“I can also see that there's a very good team culture in the Steel and that I think is one of the most important aspects. They're a team that don't give up – even if they're 11 goals behind, they end up winning the championship.”

Converting 92 percent of her shots, the 1.88m Potgieter has been the league’s most accurate shooter for the past two years, equalling the efforts of Jhaniele Fowler in 2017.