By MAGRETH RUZVIDZO Platinum Queens are on cloud nine after they clinched the inaugural Premier Netball League (PNL) title with a perfect record.
The league was established in September and ran a crush programme which ended at the weekend with matches in Beitbridge. Harare City Queens came second, while Ngezi Platinum finished third.
The Zvishavane-based side’s coach Simbarashe Mlambo could not contain his happiness following the milestone, describing it as a tough road to glory.
“I don’t know what to say, I’m feeling ecstatic, happy and I have so much excitement. I can’t contain the emotions, it’s just unbelievable. I never thought it could feel this way, but I’m proud of the girls and the way they just managed everything from day one,” he said.
“It was a tough journey. The heartbreaking thing was the injuries we got from Nomagugu Makhalima the captain, and Sbekezelo Ncube. When you lose a captain to an injury, you begin to think perhaps things are not going to go the way you want, but God knew what He had planned for us. We are just grateful that we managed and she stepped up and became part of the technical team. So the journey was really tough and the games themselves were so many in a short space of time.”
He said despite losing four players to the national team, they still maintained their momentum to claim silverware.
“I had four players out with the national team in Namibia and it was all about the girls understanding what they needed to do and how much they needed to step up, so we tried as a family to pull each other through,” he said.
The Zimbabwe senior netball team competed in the Pent Series and the African Netball Cup in Namibia this month, which saw most teams losing their key players.
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PNL secretary-general Liberty Mhizha said they were happy to have run a successful programme and were already looking forward to next year’s edition.
“It’s an honour to have successfully run the inaugural PNL in Zimbabwe. It wasn’t an individual achievement, but sacrifices from the corporate world and individuals made this a success,” he said.
“It was not easy considering the timing of the launch and the financial position of the year in which we were at. With a dedicated team of clubs and the corporate world, we came through.”
Added Mhizha: “Learning is a process and each day has its own lessons which we valued so much. We expect to start early next year and hopefully spread the games far and wide to enable teams to play few games at any given time.”
- Follow Magreth on Twitter @MagretRuzvidzo
