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When KwaZulu-Natal Kingdom Stars defender Thulisile Maduna picked up a ball for the first time, she didn’t realise how far netball could take her. Thanks to her coaches in high school, they were able to show her the potential she possessed.
Maduna is part of the squad that is competing in the 2026 edition of the Telkom Netball League which kicked off on 24 April at the Durban University of Technology, Durban. The Telkom Netball League will run until 15 June and will be hosted between KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
“I started playing netball when I was still in primary school, but I didn’t take it as seriously because I was still young. When I got to high school, that is when I changed how I looked at the sport and decided to be a bit more serious about it,” says Maduna.
Throughout her career, Maduna has competed in the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) Games, the KwaZulu-Natal Super League, and the Spar National Championships, among others for teams like the Pumas Netball Club and Ziphozonke Netball Club. She believes her netball became better once she started playing in the TNL.
“When I started playing in the TNL, my netball has improved a lot. I got named the MVP last year, which made the national team notice me as well. I got a call to the team, when we got there, we underwent trials. I am happy to be part of the team and train with them because I gained a lot of good knowledge. As I am already part of the team now, I would really like to cement my place in the team. I am going to show tenacity in order to stay in the team and remain as resolute as I am right now,” she says.
Her impressive TNL season in 2025 saw her being invited to the SPAR Proteas trials where coaches, Jenny van Dyk and Zanele Mdodana, were putting together a squad for the 2026 SPAR Challenge Netball Series. South Africa won the three test series 2-1 over fourth-ranked England. Her journey in the last year is the perfect example of this season’s TNL slogan #TelkomStandTall: From First Pass to Crown.
“From First Pass to Crown means that training hard and being focused can get you to your dream. There are children who play but do not know what the sport can do for them, but they need to continue training and putting in time and work in their sport so that they can get to where they want to,” she says.
Following her debut for the national team in the test series in February, her efforts have been rewarded with a contract with Netball South Africa (NSA). She is part of the 17 players that the federation has contracted for a 12-month period with the aim to strengthening the national squad pipeline, enhancing player support, and positioning South Africa more competitively on the international stage. The Durbanite says being penned by NSA is an indication of her hard work over the years.
“Being contracted as a SPAR Protea means a lot to me. It means all the work that I have put in all those years was not in vain. I had wished that I would like to be a contracted player someday and it’s now happened. All I need to work on now is that when the contract comes to an end, I will need to start and work towards securing my place by being determined and working hard,” she explains.
Maduna hopes that her side is able to make significant strides in the elite section of the TNL this season. Stars have only been relegated once from the elite tier since the start competition. They went down in the 2023 season and lost to the Limpopo Baobabs in the promotion/ relegation match, which saw them compete in Division Two in 2024. Maduna, who was named the Player of the Match in their opening game of the season against defending champions the Gauteng Golden Fireballs, says she would like to see her team get into the semifinals of the competition.
“The Kingdom Stars are back in Division One and we are quite driven this year. We are ready to play all the matches with determination as we did in Division Two. We promise to do just as well in Division One. We are ready to give our best. We have a good team, we just need to ensure that we start and finish all games well but I trust my team and we will do whatever it takes to win. We want to finish in the top four this season. I aspire to play as well as I did last season. I am determined to help my team win. The teams we play against give us a challenge and we have been doing well over the years, even though we haven’t been winning all our matches,” she says.
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