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Veronica Gwaze Sports Reporter
AS the 2023 curtain comes down, the Zimbabwean netball fraternity has so much to look back and reflect on.
Ordinarily, this was supposed to be a year of breakthrough for the sport code whose national team made a second successive appearance at the World Cup.
The Ropafadzo Mutsauki-led and Nedbank-sponsored Gems approached the global competition hoping to make a top four finish at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
However, they were relegated to contest for a bottom four place after failing in the opening preliminaries stage where they lost all their three Pool A matches against Australia, Fiji and Tonga. From a pleasing performance that placed them on position eight in their maiden Netball World Cup appearance in 2019 in Liverpool, the Gems dropped to number 13th.
Nonetheless, Mutsauki left the competition with something to smile about after his then newly introduced youngsters did the job for the renowned gaffer.
From a rebuilding exercise that seemingly gave him a headache for four years, he, after throwing the youngsters into the deep end at the World Cup, eventually found perfect candidates for some positions that had given him perennial headaches.
Since the retirement of the late revered Goal Shooter Pauline Jani soon after the 2019 Netball World Cup, no one had really stepped up to lay claim to the position.
Injuries haunted the duo of Australia-based star Joice Takaidza and Zimbabwe Defence Forces Queens’ Sharon Bwanali — the two players many believed could solve the Gems’ woes. However, in World Cup debutant 24-year-old Australian based Nalani Makunde, the country found their woman.
Her clicking combination with budding star Nicole Muzanenhamo in the shooting ring was enough to save the Gems, placing them on position 13.
Championships
Confident that his rebuilding exercise was slowly bearing fruit, Mutsauki had to entrust the bulk of the World Cup squad with duty at the recent African Championships held in Botswana.
The13th edition of the Africa Netball Cup, for the first time ran concurrently with the Men’s Africa Netball Cup. Although the Gems were without their trusted shooters Nicole Muzanenhamo and Nalani Makunde, they brought home bronze.
Makunde could not make it due to school commitments while Muzanenhamo had to watch her mates from the side lines due to a knee injury.
However, with African powerhouses Uganda, South Africa and Malawi pulling out of the regional competition, the Gems were ordinarily expected to be the competition’s favourites. And settling for bronze, behind Namibia and Zambia according to analysts, was a below average performance for the Felisitus Kwangwa captained side.
The men’s side were however, a toast for the nation after emerging from the competition silver medallists, behind champions South Africa.
Domestic Netball
Domestic Netball, this year enjoyed one of the most flawless seasons despite a number of deaths and the busy calendar which had the national team being in camp for some time.
Platinum Queens were crowned the Premier Netball League Champions, recording a treble.
However, runners up Green Fuel walked away with more individual prizes, with rising star Faith Mutero being crowned Player of the Season. Green horn Upenyu Kelly Muyambo, walked away as the Players’ Player of the season while Gems shooter, Nicole Muzanenhamo, who grabbed the Player of the Year gongs in the past two seasons, was this time crowned the People’s Choice Player of the Year.
ZUPCO Queens captain Harusiyi Chitiva won the “Most Disciplined” player of the year award while Ngezi Platinum Queens’ Taslima Mdimba emerged Player of the year.
Army side Black Rhinos Queens and FilChrist ZJC were crowned Most Disciplined and Most Improved teams respectively.
Under Rainbow Amateur Netball League, Pepetua Siyachitema led Glow Petroleum Queens were also crowned champions for the second time in a row.
It is also this year that RANL was, after years’ standoff, finally affiliated to the Zimbabwe Netball Association, albeit as an amateur league.
Death
While it was a busy year for netball with two major tournaments on their calendar, the Angel of death was also at work.
Platinum Queens also lost mid-court star Sbekezelo Ncube when she collapsed and died during a training session on April 13.
Sbeke, as she was affectionately known, had joined the Zvishavane based side in 2019.
She rose, over the years, to become a vital cog on the team’s perennial dominance in domestic netball. After successfully defending their title this season, to record a treble, the Simbarashe Mlambo led side dedicated the title to their fallen mate.
“It was a tough year for us, losing a teammate, family member and house mate was a huge blow, we were an emotional wreck at some point during the season but we had to rise and do it for Sbeke,” said Coach Mlambo.
In October ZRP Mambas also lost 34-year-old renowned Goal Shooter Pauline Jani who was also a former national team player. ZRP sports director Abel Chimukoko described her as a heroine, whose death had robbed the country of one of its finest netball talents. “We lost one of our best players, our key player. With Pauline, we knew that as long as she was in the game, she would deliver,” Chimukoko said.
Jani was part of the Gems who made history on their maiden Netball World Cup appearance in Liverpool in 2019, where they finished eighth. She became popular across the netball world for her passion and scoring abilities.
Online Reporter