Correctional Services Queens crowned champions

Takudzwa Chitsiga, Harare Bureau
RAINBOW Amateur Netball League successfully held their inaugural awards ceremony where Zimbabwe Correctional Services outfit, Correctional Queens, walked away with $10 000 at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Harare on Monday night.

The ceremony came after a successful 2018 season that saw the amateur league securing a total of $250 000 sponsorship package from Pickglow Trading.

Correctional Services Queens were crowned champions and they pocketed $10 000 while the first runners-up, Glow Petroleum got $6 000, Platinum Queens as the second runners up were awarded $4 000 ande $3 000 was won by ZDF Queens who closed in as the third runners-up.

RANL secretary-general, Moses Gukurume said they saw it worthy to honour their teams and individuals in the inaugural league so as to improve competition.

“This is the brainchild of both the management committee and the sponsor who felt that if the sport was to be competitive, some incentives had to be put aside for rewarding excellence at the end of the season.

“This year it is our sponsors Pickglow who have bankrolled the event, but a lot of the people we invited expressed willingness to partner us in future for the individual awards.

“Preparations are never enough, we expect that we learn as we grow but I am very optimistic that it’s the first step to a journey of a thousand miles,” Gukurume said.

The awards are first of their kind in the local netball world. Previously, only champions were given a floating trophy.

The coming in of RANL saw every team in the league going home with a package as well as individual prizes.

All the other teams were awarded $1 000 each.

The amateur league managed to host a number of tournaments across the country as well as awarding their players in different ways a move that was never witnessed in netball before.

RANL came about this year in a move to complement the Zimbabwe Netball Association run league but they faced resistance that saw them engaging the Sports Commission who went on to ask ZINA to amend its constitution to allow for the registration of other league up until now they are still to register the new formation.

However, in an effort to keep the sport going, RANL managed to run their league under the social league banner.