ZIMBABWE netball team coach Ropafadzo Mutsauki has appealed for unity of purpose among all stakeholders to ensure the team has the best preparations ahead of their participation at the Netball World Cup in Cape Town.
The Gems are set to compete at the Netball World Cup in Cape Town from July 28 to August 6.
This will be the first Netball World Cup to be held in Africa since its inception in 1963 and the Gems are eager to make a good impression.
Zimbabwe is drawn in Group A together with Fiji, Tonga and former champions, Australia, who are also the world’s top ranked nation.
As the countdown continues, the team was supposed to regroup last weekend but failed due to some logistical challenge and are now expected to troop into camp at a yet to be advised date.
"We are starting the camp with 21 players then we will call others in our next camp. We have reduced numbers because our initial number was 30 players. So we'll keep working with them, trimming down the team till we have a better squad," said Gems coach Mutsauki.
"What is important in order to come up with a better team is adequate training, having friendly matches and to work as a team, from the players, technical staff, stakeholders and the association.
After qualifying for the World Cup in August last year, the Gems have played in only one tournament.
They took part in the Diamond Challenge in November last year, where they faced Scotland, South Africa and the President's XII side.
The team managed to draw one game against Scotland while the two other games ended in defeats.
In order to prepare well, Mutsauki said there is now need to engage in friendlies before the global showpiece.
"After this camp, we hope to have friendlies so that we can assess ourselves and see if we are ready for the competition. We, however, started our preparations way back — when we competed in the Diamond Challenge last year — we went there with new players whom we wanted to assess," he said.
"If we manage to have training for the remaining four months, I think that it will be adequate but if we fail, then it becomes challenging because there is need to prepare our players so that they become both physically and mentally fit for the competition."