Doreen Slingers is using her decades of experience in netball to help create opportunities for young girls through the PEP mini Netball programme.
Slingers’ involvement in netball spans playing, coaching, umpiring, administration and leadership at district, provincial, national and international level. She has played a key role in the development of school netball in the Western Cape, serving as Netball Chairperson for Western Province and Western Cape before becoming the first Deputy Chairperson of South African Schools Netball (SASN).
She currently serves as a Management and Leadership Mentor within the Western Cape Schools Netball structures and is an executive member of the boards of Cape Town Primary Schools Netball, Cape Town Schools Netball and Western Cape Schools Netball.
For Slingers, PEP mini Netball is about more than developing future players.
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,” she says.
She believes grassroots participation can also open pathways beyond playing, allowing young girls to develop skills and potentially pursue careers as coaches, administrators, umpires and other professionals within netball.
Slingers’ contribution to sport has been recognised through several awards, including Western Province and Western Cape Administrator of the Year, a Sport Legends Award from the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, and a Cape Town Sport Council Legends Award in 2025.
Through her involvement in PEP mini Netball, Slingers continues to use sport as a platform to help young girls build confidence, discover their potential and create opportunities for their future.