Online Reporter
Veronica Gwaze
Zimpapers Sports Hub
AS they look to make an impact at the African Netball Championships in Malawi, Zimbabwe’s Gems will be hoping to leverage the lessons they picked up at the just-ended Celtic Cup in Scotland.
The Gems completed their 2025 Celtic Cup participation with a fourth-place finish after picking two wins at the five-day showcase.
In Scotland, the Gems competed against featured hosts Scotland Thistles, Wales, Northern Ireland, Namibia and Uganda.
First-time participants Uganda were crowned champions after completing the tournament without tasting defeat, while Scotland and Wales settled for second and third places respectively.
Although the Gems did not achieve a podium finish, the insights acquired during this tournament should now stand them in good stead to make a huge impact at the Africa Cup.
Their coach, Ropafadzo Mutsauki, acknowledged and believes that their tour of Europe was vital in that it provided them with lessons they picked up, which they intend to use to improve the team’s performance.
This is despite the limited time before Zimbabwe line up for the African Championships which run at the Griffin Saenda Sports Complex in Lilongwe between December 8 and 14.
Mutsauki’s charges will face nemesis South Africa, Uganda, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini, and Lesotho while Zambia have officially dropped out of the competition.
“Although we did not achieve a podium finish as we wanted, we picked a lot of positives from the Celtic Cup, and these lessons will be crucial when we prepare and go on to participate at the Africa Cup,” Mutsauki said.
Although the Gems have always prevailed over Zambia in the recent past, their withdrawal from the competition potentially provides the Gems with a more favourable path to the podium.
Generally, with Zambia out, it means the Gems who struggled with fitness at the Celtic Cup will have a lesser number of games to play.
As the team gear up for the prestigious regional tournament, their focus will be to work on fitness levels, refine their skills largely in defence and improve on cohesion.
“It was not an easy outing and a lot of factors like lack of fitness and height contributed to our performance so these are some of the aspects that we need to look into,” said Mutsauki.
“As the competition progressed, we ran short of legs, I believe it was due to inadequate training because for days while we were in camp, it was raining.
“However, the team has massive potential, our mid-court is strong and our shooters have the height and shots so if we work harder in those departments then we can shield the other areas.”
For the Scotland Thistles, their average height is 1.79 metres, the Wesh stand at 1.80m while for Uganda it is 1.85m with Mary Cholhok Nuba towering from the shooting ring with 2.01m.
However, for Zimbabwe they stand at 1.64m, presenting an imbalance in areas such as the defensive end, which often needs height more than technique.
For height, the Gems could see the return of veteran captain Felisitus Kwangwa, who has been on the national team sidelines for some time this year.
Goalkeeper Elizabeth Mushore who also boasts of height and an impressive elevation in defence will still be away on maternity leave. With Kelly Muyambo, Tanaka Makusha, Nikkie Mandeya and Takadanaishe Zimusi standing relatively shorter than defenders from other nations, the quartet will have to improve on their elevation.
“We picked one or two lessons which we can use in our defence, I believe these will help us a lot in the coming games,” Mutsauki said.
“We are going to meet Uganda and Namibia again while even the other nations like South Africa have a height advantage over us; hence, the need for us to figure out how best we can go about it.
“Generally, I am confident that we are not going there just to add numbers, we are eyeing a podium finish and I know we have the capacity to achieve it.”
With the African Championships on the horizon, the Gems are determined to translate their hard-earned Celtic Cup lessons into success on the regional court, aiming to improve their standing in African netball.
