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Ellina Mhlanga
Senior Sports Reporter
GEMS coach Ropafadzo Mutsauki says they need to maintain competition within the squad to come up with a strong team to represent the country at the Netball World Cup in South Africa.
The global netball event is due to take place from July 28 to August 6 in Cape Town with 16 countries competing.
The Gems’ camp entered week three and Mutsauki said they are making positive strides. They are camped at Prince Edward School.
“At the moment we are trying to work on the combinations. There are a few new players that managed to come and some that have always been part of the team.
“So those that were already part of the team it’s not that difficult to bring them together again, it’s just that they spent some time apart.
“But we are making progress since we are now in the third week. So we are trying different combinations to see how it goes . . . Sometimes we play the men’s side but so far so good. I am happy with their progress,” said Mutsauki.
Some of the new players in the senior team include Nikkie Mandeya.
She was part of the Young Gems team that won gold at the Confederation of Southern Africa Netball Associations Championships last year in Malawi together with promising goal shooter Thandazile Ndlovu, who is also in camp.
Ndlovu attended the Spar Diamond Challenge with the senior team last November.
The 17-year-old plays wing defence, centre, goal defence and goal keeper.
The technical team called in 19 players for this camp, which is expected to run until April 16.
However, they have had to make some adjustments as they brought in Lorraine Manjoro last week to replace Mitchell Muzanenhamo, who left camp to attend to some personal issues.
Patricia Mauladi also left as she was not feeling well while Chipo Shoko picked an injury and is out.
“We have a player who had some personal problems, Mitchell, so for us to maintain our training momentum and also retain competition, we needed to have a replacement. And we brought in Lorraine.
“Lorraine was not in the final 12 (for the 2019 World Cup) but was part of the 20 that travelled. So we considered her experience and we roped her in. We want to see how it goes.
“We want to work on our mid-court, that’s a key area. So we want to maintain competition by having more players.
“Chipo is out because of an injury. Patricia Mauladi was not feeling well and one of the defenders has gone to school, that is Elizabeth Mushore,” said Mutsauki.
Mutsauki, however, said they are likely not to bring in more replacements because of time constraints. They will wait for the next camp.
Zimbabwe were drawn in Group A together with Australia, Fiji and Tonga. This will be their second successive appearance at the World Cup after making their debut in 2019.
They finished in position eight and are hoping to surpass that performance. The Gems are aware of the work they need to put if they are to achieve their target.
The technical team has underscored the need for friendly matches ahead of the final tournament.
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