Pretorius competed in the Netball Super league for Team Bath before joining the Sunshine Coast Lightning.
Karla Pretorius, née Mostert (born 12 March 1990) is a South African netball player. She plays for the Sunshine Coast Lightning and the South Africa SPAR Proteas Netball.
The rugby player’s position is Goal Defence and Wing Defence. She is among the world’s best players since her debut for Proteas in 2011.
Pretorius made history by signing a contract with Sunshine Coast Lightning. She became the first South African to play in Australia’s Super Netball competition.
| Karla Pretorius | |
|---|---|
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| Short Profile | |
| Name: | Karla Pretorius |
| Born: | 12 March 1990 (age 33 years) |
| Place of Birth: | East London |
| Nationality: | South African |
| Education: | Dietetics |
| Alma mater: | University of the Free State |
| Occupation: | Netball player, dietician |
| Position: | Goal Defence, Wing Defence |
| Height: | 1.81 m |
| Sister: | Tanya Mostert |
| Daughter: | 1 |
| Spouse: | Werner Pretorius (m. 2017) |
Early Life
Karla Pretorius, née Mostert, was born on 12 March 1990 in East London in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. She grew up in Centurion and attended Hoërskool Zwartkop.
Pretorius’ younger sister, Tanya Mostert, participated in the Fast 5 World Series in Melbourne in 2016 as a player for the national squad.
Education
Pretorius holds a Bachelor in Dietetics from the University of the Free State. She completed her Master’s in Dietetics at the University of the Free State in 2019. She is studying for a Diploma in Sports Management at the University of South Africa.
Career
Pretorius played for the UK-based Team Bath in the Netball Super League. She currently plays for Sunshine Coast Lightning in the Australian Super Netball league. She has won premierships consecutively with the club in 2017 and 2018.
In 2018, she earned the title of the Super Netball Team of the Year. She is the vice-captain of the SPAR Proteas. She appeared at the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and 2018. She also participated in the Netball World Cup in 2015 and 2023.
Karla played in the 2011 World Netball Series in Liverpool, United Kingdom. She also participated in the INF Netball World Cup 2015 in Sydney, Australia.
Pretorius participated in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games (2014) and the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games (2018). She made twenty-eight intercepts as South Africa finished fifth in the tournament.
Karla played for the South Africa national netball team u21 and made her international debut for the Proteas in 2011. She has played for the netball team of the University of the Free State (Kovsies).
She represented the Free State Criniums Netball team. They won back-to-back titles in the 2014 and 2015 Brutal Fruit Premier League. In 2015, she was a community dietitian in Bloemfontein.
Achievements
In 2014 and 2015, Karla received the Varsity Cup Netball Player of the Tournament award.
The University of the Free State named her the Sportswoman of the Year 2015. She is the first South African to feature in the Super Netball league.
KovsieSport named Pretorius as UFS Sportswoman of the Year in 2016. Mail & Guardian named Karla one of 200 Young South Africans in 2017.
Pretorius earned the Player of the Tournament at the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup in Liverpool, England. She won back-to-back premierships with the Sunshine Coast Lightning in 2017 and 2018.
Karla won the MVP award for her performance in the Grand Final in 2017. She and a teammate, Stephanie Wood, shared the club’s Player of the Year award for their performance in the 2018 season.
Personal Life
Werner Pretorius and Karla Pretorius tied the knot on 9 September 2017. She had to withdraw from the 2022 competition after announcing her pregnancy in December 2021.
Karla’s baby, Kara, followed the SPAR Proteas into the camp on 14 July 2023. Pretorius is the first Player to bring a baby to experience her first netball World Cup.