Online Reporter
WHEN the Zimbabwe senior netball team, better known as the Gems, stepped back onto the court at the 2025 Celtic Cup, which ends in Scotland tomorrow, they signalled the nation’s renewed bid to reclaim its place among the world’s elite.
The Gems have over the last few years forced their way into the reckoning after being largely ignored as one of the teams with a huge potential to put Zimbabwe on the sporting map.
Last year’s third-place finish at the Celtic Cup proved that the Gems, even amid turbulence, remain one of the most resilient forces in African netball.
But this year’s tournament carries higher stakes: it marks the beginning of Zimbabwe’s preparations for the 2027 Netball World Cup in Australia.
Fortunately for the Gems, the organisers increased the number of participating teams this year to six, which meant a couple more games of the munch-needed international exposure.
We believe that the tour of Scotland is a critical moment. And Zimbabwe cannot afford to waste it.
Just a month ago, Zimbabwe hosted Malawi, competing with some new-found sharpness and intent.
That series, competitive as it was, demonstrated that the leadership at the Zimbabwe Netball Association (ZINA) appears willing to get the team back into a rhythm of high-level competition.
This is precisely what the sport needs.
For years, the Gems’ biggest handicap has not been a dearth of talent — instead it has been infrequency of elite match exposure.
Top-tier nations play each other constantly and as the old saying goes: iron sharpens iron. Zimbabwe, by contrast, surfaces in competition sporadically, often on the eve of the qualifiers. The Celtic Cup invitation is therefore a strategic opening which the country must seize and ensure generations of the senior team regularly take part in.
Any sporting team needs to regularly gauge its strengths and weaknesses against top competition, which serves to help them in their planning.
However, for any sporting discipline to thrive anywhere in the world it needs corporate partners to back the endeavours and fund its development.
For the Gems, the sustained support of financial institution Nedbank, a key partner of Zimbabwean netball, has been a beacon in an otherwise unstable administrative environment.
Their commitment shows the transformative power of corporate backing in a landscape where public funding is unreliable and administrative capacity often falls short.
It shows that when business supports sport, possibility becomes reality.
Nedbank’s involvement is a case study in what becomes possible when private institutions decide that women’s sport deserves real investment.
This partnership must be protected, expanded, and emulated. Without it, the Gems’ journey to the Australia 2027 Word Cup becomes significantly steeper. The qualification process for the 2027 Netball World Cup has been clearly laid out.
The top 5 in world rankings as of December 1 2025, plus host Australia, will qualify automatically while the remaining 10 spots will be determined through regional qualifiers held between January and September 2026, with two teams per region advancing.
For Zimbabwe, this means they must be at peak competitiveness well before the qualifiers begin.
Sport has no shortcuts and we urge ZINA and all key netball partners to build on the European tour.
Incidentally soon after the Celtic Cup, the Gems will head to the 2025 Africa Netball Cup, which will next year be used as the qualifying tournament for the 2027 global showpiece in Australia.
The Celtic Cup, with its stronger field and higher tempo, becomes invaluable preparation. It is a chance to sharpen combinations, test new players, and adapt to contrasting styles from European and African opponents.
It is also the perfect laboratory for correcting the tactical stagnation that crept in amid administrative upheaval.
Not all is rosy. Netball in Zimbabwe has been dogged by governance lapses, internal disputes, and inconsistent strategic planning.
These issues have chipped away at credibility and undermined performance structures.
Leticia Chipandu’s ZINA leadership was suspended at some point before bouncing back.
Some of the issues raised by stakeholders still need to be addressed.
This means there should be, among other considerations; a transparent athlete selection processes, stable, long-term coaching structures, genuine athlete welfare priorities, strategic planning that spans seasons, proactive pursuit of international fixtures and accountability at administrative level.
If Zimbabwe wants to return to the World Cup — which has now become the Gems’ yardstick and identity marker — administrators must embrace a new level of professionalism.
Invitations to prestigious tournaments like the Celtic Cup are not guaranteed. They are earned — and they can be lost.
Zimbabwe’s 3rd-place finish supersedes performance, it was leverage: It provides leverage for more invitations, increased sponsorship, stronger bargaining power in continental netball politics and a winning culture around the Gems.
But leverage is useful if acted upon. This year’s Celtic Cup is a window into where Zimbabwe could go.
If the Gems are serious about returning to the World Cup — the standard by which they now measure themselves — they must treat this tournament as the beginning of a disciplined, professional, and relentless campaign.
The players have proven their hearts and the sponsors have shown their belief.
Now, the administrators must rise to the level the athletes already occupy.
Zimbabwe has been given another chance to stand among the world’s best.
What happens next will determine whether the Gems shine again on the global stage — or fade before they get there.
