Chronicle Editor
Tadious Manyepo, Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe national senior netball team coach, Ropafadzo Mutsauki, is hoping to see his girls taking the same spirit they are showing in camp into the Celtic Cup tournament to be played in Scotland next month.
The Gems are preparing for the historic four-team contest that will also feature Wales, Northern Ireland and the hosts from November 1-10.
They have been in camp for over a week now with the veteran coach expected to trim the squad from 21 to the final travelling 12 next week.
The Scotland games are divided into two with Zimbabwe first facing-off against the Scottish Thistles and Welsh Feathers in World ranking games between November 1-6 in Cardiff.
Action will then shift to Glasgow for the remainder of the days where the Northern Ireland Warriors will join the party in the Celtic Cup.
That all the four countries involved are ranked closer to each other, with Wales the ninth-best team in the world, Scotland (10th, Northern Ireland (11th) and Zimbabwe (13th) makes the contest more exciting.
And Mutsauki is loving every bit of preparation the Gems are undergoing at a private school where they are camped in Harare.
He told Zimpapers Sports Hub yesterday that the girls are configuring well given that most of the tried and tested are all in camp with a few young guns also sweating it out for a place on the plane.
“Physically, they (Gems) are at different levels but we are trying to make sure that they are all up to standard. The tournament we are going to is not an easy one at all. The games will be very difficult.
“But we are quite confident that they will really show a lot of spirit like what they are doing right now in camp. We are trying to make sure that they can co-ordinate very well tactically and mentally. As the technical team, we are where we want to be,” said Mutsauki.
“As a coach, you always want more time as there is always that one screw that you want to tighten but we are trying to ensure that by the time we leave we will be very much calibrated for the competition.”
Mutsauki said everything is shaping up and he will pick his final 12 based on a number of factors, including the possible availability of some players at the 2027 World Cup to be played in Australia.
Actually, the Zimbabwe Netball Association has made it clear that besides their conviction to win the Celtic Cup and improve their ranking, they will use the tour to also prepare for the 2027 World Cup.
“We have one or two things to consider and look at. We also have to look at the 2027 Australia World Cup so maybe after some days we will be able to announce the final squad hopefully.
“Maybe on Monday we will be able to announce the squad. We just need to see how best we can fuse these young players with the seniors,” he added.
The gaffer, who is also working on combinations given the players are not just from different teams but different leagues, believes Zimbabwe can punch well in the tournament.
“We have a good chance going into the tournament. It’s 50-50, we will see,” said Mutsauki. “We are working on co-ordination and the like so that our players can be ready for the tournament.
“We are trying to put them in the right frame of standard to match whatever we will meet in Scotland.”
The players are coming from all directions and different leagues including the Premier Netball League as well as the Rainbow Amateur League while some are from social leagues.
Online Reporter