More tourneys for Zambezi netball

Nkosilathi Sibanda, [email protected]

THE ZAMBEZI Netball Association has lined up nine major tournaments for this year’s Community League and the first games are expected to start in about three weeks time.

The season opener will be the Robert Mugabe National Youth Day championship on February 21 at Chinotimba ground in Victoria Falls.

Thereafter the league will resume at the end of March.

The Zambezi Netball Association’s technical advisor Lasten Tshuma told ‘Zimpapers Sports’ that they have lined up events that also include awareness campaigns on child rights, health and wellness. Other events on the calendar will be the Independence Day tournament on April 18 at the CBZ ground.

In May, teams will gather for the International Day of Boy Child Rights and the menstrual hygiene awareness games at Chinotimba.

Victoria Falls sports campaign games are slated for July at the Busy Island ground. Tshuma said they want to give the teams more competition so as to keep players busy while at the same time gaining experience.

“The idea is to have our players competing not only for the league honours but in other tournaments as well. We revised our calendar of games and came up with one that has an event every month,” he said.

Teams in the league include Kasambabezi Queens, Bangelo, Golden Stars, Grace Mission Eagles, Discovery, Shooting Stars, Gwanzura, and Corinthians.

Kasambabezi Queens were last year’s champions having played 15 games, losing only one.

Bangelo Club were runners-up. Tshuma said they were expecting more teams to join the league.

Meanwhile, player registration was said to be progressing well, with teams already busy on the market.

Most of the players are drawn from Victoria Falls and surrounding areas. The Zambezi Netball Association’s Community League, which was launched in April last year, seeks to empower the community of Victoria Falls through sport. It was also established with the view of using netball to uplift female athletes and provide them with support systems so that they get equal recognition and attention. – @NkosieLegend.