Online Reporter
Veronica Gwaze, Zimpapers Sports Hub
WHEN the Zimbabwe senior netball team step onto the court in Scotland, all eyes will turn to Goal Attacker Ursula Ndlovu.
She moves with the calm of someone who has carried this weight before. She has to. She is the only player left from the Gems side that qualified for the 2019 World Cup, the last woman standing from a group that once stunned the world.
The Gems will contest the Celtic Cup at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow from November 26 to 30, lining up against Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Uganda and Namibia in world ranking matches. For the young squad travelling there, Ndlovu is more than a scorer. She is their compass. She has been in the national colours for close to a decade and knows what it takes to survive the grind.
Her journey runs back to the team that broke barriers in 2019 under Lloyd Makunde, a spirited group captained by Pepetua Siyachitema that battled their way to eighth place in Liverpool. That squad carried the names of the late Pauline Jani, Felisitus Kwangwa, Ndaizivei Madzikangava, Patricia Mauladi, Mercy Mukwadi, Christine Kadandara and Rudo Karume. They were the heartbeat of a movement that briefly stopped the country.
All of them have since moved on. Clubs changed. Lives shifted. Careers took different turns. Ndlovu stayed.
She is in camp again, preparing to lead the most inexperienced Gems side in years. The responsibility weighs on her yet she carries it with a quiet gratitude.
“I believe it is just by God’s grace that I am still here . . . I had not realised that it has been so long until you reminded me,” she said. “Netball has always been my life and I am glad that the gift took me this far, this is life for me, my life revolves around the game.”
Around her, the 2019 group has settled into new chapters. Siyachitema is now a decorated coach at Glow Petroleum and recently joined the national team set-up as Ropafadzo Mutsauki’s assistant. Madzikangava, Mauladi, Kadandara and Karume are scattered across domestic clubs. Mukwadi is in the diaspora. Kwangwa has not featured for the Gems this year though she is still expected to remain part of the fold.
For Ndlovu, their absence sharpens her purpose.
“I think my job now as a senior player is to give confidence to the young players,” she said. “This is a new look team; we went under massive rebuilding so most of the players are still rookies in international netball. However, we are all still learners in the game because every day brings a new lesson so we are in the journey together.”
Her confidence on court looks effortless, yet it was forged long before national colours. It started at Nketa 6 Primary School and later Msiteli High, where she first established herself as a fierce competitor. From the Young Gems, she pushed her way into the senior team, learning to survive in environments where newcomers felt the pressure to impress. She remembers the long camps, the voices of senior players, the urge to belong and the moments where she almost walked away.
Through all of it stood her late grandmother, the person who raised her and knew the soft parts of her story.
“Most of my team mates and coaches had a lot of faith in me but they did not realize that it brought so much pressure on me sometimes,” she said.
“Gogo always understood me, we would talk almost daily whether I was local or away and her words were always, you know how I brought you up, go and fight.
“She loved netball and urged me to keep working hard. When we went to Liverpool her last words were, I am so proud of the winner in you, I raised a winner, May Her Soul Rest In Peace.”
Her voice softens when she speaks of her.
“Unfortunately in those days we were not earning much; I wished to do so much for her. Camp was tough at the time, but now a lot has changed and had she still been around, I know she would be beaming with joy.”
Once the Celtic Cup is done, Ndlovu’s path leads straight to Malawi for the African Championships. The Gems do not hand her the armband, yet anyone watching knows who steadies both ends of the court. Her fingerprints are everywhere in the team’s fight for a third straight World Cup appearance.
In a changing squad, she remains the constant. The last Gem who refused to fade.
