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For Doreen Slingers, netball has been a lifelong passion and a powerful tool for creating opportunities. Her involvement in the sport spans several decades – from playing and coaching to umpiring, administration and leadership at district, provincial, national and international level.
Her journey began as a young girl, when netball and athletics were among the few sporting opportunities available to girls in disadvantaged communities. From those early days, netball became a constant in her life, shaping her into the resilient leader and passionate advocate the sport knows today.
Slingers has played a significant role in the development of school netball in the Western Cape and nationally. She has served as the Netball Chairperson for Western Province and Western Cape and later became the first Deputy Chairperson of South African Schools Netball (SASN). She also served as the National Netball Chairperson for the South African Primary School Sports Association (SAPSSA) before the advent of a democratic South Africa.
Today, her contribution to SASN continues through her involvement in the Western Cape Schools Netball structures. She serves as a Management and Leadership Mentor, while also serving as an Executive Member on the boards of Cape Town Primary Schools Netball, Cape Town Schools Netball and Western Cape Schools Netball.
Her experience in school sport has also taken her beyond South Africa. She has accompanied national netball teams abroad, represented South Africa at the World Women and Sport Conference in Namibia and served as Chef de Mission for school sport teams participating in multi-code events in Namibia.
While her career has seen her hold numerous leadership positions, Slingers remains focused on what sport can do for young people. She believes netball can help children develop a strong sense of self-worth, confidence, and belonging, while creating opportunities for them regardless of their background or circumstances.
This belief is at the heart of her involvement in PEP mini Netball. Through the programme, Slingers is able to contribute to grassroots development and help introduce young girls to netball from an early age.
For her, PEP mini Netball is about creating more than future players. It is about giving young girls the opportunity to participate, discover their potential and develop skills that can benefit them both on and off the court. Her involvement represents another chapter in a career built around creating opportunities and using sport as a vehicle for positive change.
“PEP mini Netball is not only about teaching girls to play netball. It is about showing them from a young age that they matter, that they have potential and their circumstances do not have to determine their future. I simply love this programme because it gives girls the opportunity to aim high, believe in themselves and discover what they are capable of,” says Slingers.
She believes that grassroots participation can open many different pathways within the sport. Not every young girl will go on to represent a national team, but every opportunity to participate can help develop skills and create possibilities to become a coach, administrator, umpire or another professional within netball.
Her contribution to sport has been recognised throughout her career, including being named Western Province and Western Cape Administrator of the Year, receiving a Sport Legends Award from the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, and being honoured with a Cape Town Sport Council Legends Award in 2025.
For Slingers, the work at grassroots level matters because every young girl deserves the opportunity to believe in herself, discover her potential and dream beyond the circumstances around her. Through PEP mini Netball, she continues to play her part in helping make those opportunities possible.
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