Karla Pretorius

South African defender and Proteas vice-captain, named Player of the Tournament at the 2019 World Cup and a two-time Super Netball premiership winner.

Karla Pretorius (née Mostert) was born on 12 March 1990 and grew up playing netball in Bloemfontein, South Africa, representing the University of the Free State from 2009 to 2015 while completing a degree in dietetics. She made her senior Proteas debut in 2011 and turned fully professional in 2015. Pretorius became the first South African player to sign for an Australian Super Netball club, joining the inaugural Sunshine Coast Lightning squad in 2017 after a season with England's Team Bath. She won back-to-back premierships with Lightning in 2017 (earning Grand Final MVP) and 2018, and was named vice-captain of the South African national team in 2018. At the 2015 World Cup she recorded the most intercepts of any player in the tournament, and at the 2019 World Cup in Liverpool she was named Player of the Tournament as South Africa reached the medal playoffs for the first time in 24 years. Pretorius still holds the Super Netball record for most intercepts in a single season, 69 in 2019. She reached her 100th international cap in July 2023 against Sri Lanka, becoming only the fifth South African player to do so. She left Sunshine Coast Lightning after the 2023 season to return home to her family, and has since captained South Africa's Free State Crinums in the Telkom Netball League, taking time away from the sport in 2025 before returning as captain of an unbeaten Crinums side in 2026.

Composed, exceptionally intelligent defender renowned for reading the game and generating turnover ball through intercepts

One of the finest defenders of her generation and a pioneering figure for South African players in professional overseas leagues

• Netball World Cup Player of the Tournament 2019
• Super Netball Premiership 2017 (Grand Final MVP), 2018
• South Africa's most intercepts in a Super Netball season (69, 2019)
• gsport Newsmaker of the Year 2020