Zimbabwe Netball Association (ZINA) president Letitia Chipandu has expressed excitement about the future of the country’s women netball team despite failing to achieve set targets in 2023.
The Gems took part in two competitions, that is, the Netball World Cup in Capetown, South Africa and the Africa Netball Cup in Gaborone, Botswana.
Hosted in Cape Town, South Africa, the World Cup ran from July 28 to August 6 whilst the continental championships were held in November and December last year.
In both competitions, there were some positives and negatives to take note of as the team is now in the rebuilding process considering that there were a number of youngsters, who made it on the international stage for the first time.
Chipandu feels the World Cup qualification made 2023 a good year for netball.
“2023 was the happiest year for netball- after qualifying for the 2023 Netball World Cup, we had hoped for a better position from position eight from the previous World Cup to position four or five. This did not go as planned as we had injuries on players we were banking on, that is, Joyce Takaidza our Australian-based player as she didn't play that much and Sharon Bwanali who also picked an injury," said Chipandu.
"I really don't know what put our girls down because we played friendly games, I think three of them just before playing the actual games. This could have made the girls tired before the tournament.
“I also want to hasten to say that we have a relatively young team, a number of our players were playing for the first time and it wasn't easy on this world platform, perhaps we over-estimated our capabilities," she added.
Chipandu called for better preparations for upcoming international competitions as this helps in assessing the team's readiness and fitness levels before the competition.
"I want to say preparations regarding these games are very vital. You cannot go to the World Cup having prepared for only a month or so. In 2019 we had lots of preparations and had friendlies in Uganda, South Africa and we had the exposure we really needed which we didn't have this time. We didn't have any friendlies and the most we did was playing against our male counterparts," she said.
"After the World Cup, the girls wanted to redeem themselves in the Africa Championships and there were not many changes in the team except for Kelly Myambo from Greenfuel, who is a sharp and promising defender.
“I was so sure that they would bring gold since South Africa, Uganda and Malawi were not part of the competition. But we also had problems with Joyce and Sharon who picked injuries and did not play at all whilst Nicole was injured during the course of the tournament and she still has a plastered leg as of now — this was a huge setback.
"However, what I can say is that this youthful team is promising and come 2027 we are going to have a better team. "Actually we have started our pathway to the 2027 World Cup, which is going to be in Australia. At the end of the day, the results were a mixture of our goals, but I believe in the rebuilding process,” she said.
Chipandu also thanked the government together with ZOC for chipping in at all tournaments in support of the girl child together with other sponsors including SPAR Zimbabwe, Nedbank Zimbabwe which played a pivotal role in making sure that the Gems got all necessities.
According to the latest world rankings, Zimbabwe has, however, managed to maintain their 13th position after these competitions.
As for domestic leagues, she said:" There was so much growth in terms of participation, we had a lot of leagues in all the provinces, Manicaland topping the list with so many teams in divisions 1 and 2 and also a number in the PNL."
The Nedbank Premier Netball League commenced in March and was very competitive, but Zvishavane based side, Platinum Queens eventually emerged champions, scooping the title for the third time in a row since the league's inauguration in 2021.
In the Rainbow Amateuer Netball League (RANL) Glow Petroleum maintained their dominance, retaining the championship title for the third year in a row with a perfect run throughout the season.