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Ellina Mhlanga Senior Sports Reporter
THE Rainbow Amateur Netball League have said they are no longer going to stage the end of season tournament that was scheduled for this month as some of their clubs have been affected by Covid-19.
The tournament was set to come after the league games that are expected to conclude today with the final game between Correctional Queens and Mambas.
The match was supposed to have been played but was moved due to some challenges.
The league had planned to have the Glow Cup to end their 2021 programme after a crash programme that saw them returning to competition after close to two years of inactivity.
They had hoped to stage the Glow Cup in Hwange as their last competition for the year but RANL secretary-general, Moses Gukurume, yesterday said they have shelved the tournament as a number of clubs have had several players testing positive.
“The Glow Cup has been postponed because of Covid-19. Teams have reported Covid-19 cases.
“We have been in consultation with the sponsor to say if we can’t have it now, we postpone it and it’s now going to be the season-opener.
“We should have had the tournament and awards but most of the people tested positive, so we said let’s postpone and not expose our players, officials and everyone involved.
“Most of the teams have been affected and a number of the executive members as well have been affected.
“Also looking at the courts in Hwange, it’s an open space and we would have ended up having spectators.
“The issue of this new variant, Omicron, we were not really prepared, so the wave is spreading very fast and we didn’t want to have a situation where we would expose the players,” said Gukurume.
Gukurume said the awards are now going to be held virtually on a date to be announced.
“The awards will be done virtually and they are on this year. If the game (between Mambas and Correctional Queens) is played then we will decide when exactly and the categories.
“Some categories are tricky because this was a very short space of time for proper assessment.
“But judging by the fact that it was a crash programme, it was successful because teams were able to play although we had some challenges.
“But it was a learning curve on how much is needed, where we need to improve and where we can help teams under these circumstances,” said Gukurume.
Mambas are expected to host Correctional Queens at Morris Depot this afternoon in the last game of the season.
Today’s game is key in deciding the league winners and it promises to be an interesting game.
Online Reporter