Online Reporter
Veronica Gwaze-Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIMBABWE senior netball women, the Gems are gradually stamping authority on the global stage.
This comes after another improvement on their World Netball rankings, edging one step up the rung into 11th place.
In the past four months, the Gems have moved two positions up the standings after improving from 13th.
The rankings were released by World Netball on Thursday with the changes influenced by results from matches played between December 1, 2025 and March, 1 2026.
These results were added and the annual update carried out to ensure that the rankings reflect the most current form of the international teams.
“It shows that as a netball nation, we are in the right direction in rising to be a dominant force on the global stage,” said Zimbabwe Netball Association Technical director John Banda.
Another notable change on the World Netball Rankings is England rising to third position from four to overtake Jamaica.
Also, in the top 10 are Uganda who have cemented their sixth-place, Wales (seventh), eighth-placed Tonga who have swapped positions with Malawi (ninth).
Banda attributed the Gems’ rise to a vibrant developmental policy as the consistent feeder into the senior team.
“If we trace back to the team that qualified and did duty at Zimbabwe’s senior World Cup debut in Liverpool in 2019, the bulk of the players had graduated from the juniors’ structures,” he said.
“Amongst those players, we also had those who played in the Youth Netball World Cup in Botswana in 2017; this is a model of doing business that we have kept to this day and it is paying dividends.”
With the Gems now financially backed by Nedbank, they have in the past two years been able to play more international friendlies.
The friendly games have in turn transformed coach Ropafadzo Mutsauki’s charges and they now have the pedigree to upset giants Malawi and Uganda.
Banda said more international exposure has been instrumental in the Gems’ transformation journey within and beyond the continent.
The number of points earned by a team for any match on the rankings, said Banda, depends on two factors which are the result (won, drawn, lost) and the size of the opponents against whom the result was achieved.
In this regard, the higher an opponent’s rating the more points are earned for beating them.
After beating a higher ranked Malawi at the African Championships last year, Mutsauki’s charges earned themselves important points which catapulted them into 11th position.
“Now that we have improved our position, we need to avoid dropping points by averting defeat by lower ranked nations because that can see us slip down the ladder,” added Banda. “This means that we have to work hard, invest in development so that we enhance our competitiveness and be able to continue challenging the higher ranked nations.
“The good thing is that we now have some financial backing and have the freedom to participate more frequently in such games, further we are now able to hold periodic camps and continue to perfect our team.
“From the 2019 World Cup crew, only four players are still on the team; while they came from a developmental side, the rest of the new crop that we have also graduated from juniors. Our aim is to continue with the Zambezi Eagles side as a transition platform while also keeping intact our Under-17 and Under-19 teams.”
The top six World Netball ranking nations automatically qualify for the Netball World Cup Sydney 2027.
Hosts, Australia, have qualified for the global showcase alongside New Zealand, England, Jamaica, South Africa and Uganda.
