adminEllina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
PRIOR to the 2020 Rainbow Amateur Netball League season, most clubs had high hopes for themselves but the Covid-19 pandemic is now posing a threat to the survival of many clubs.
It is inevitable sport will not be spared against the negative effects of the pandemic that has shaken most economies.
While a number of clubs, such as Ngezi Platinum and Platinum Queens have stable backing, those owned by individuals and communities are giving league leadership cause for concern.
Clubs like Lusumbami have been struggling to get stable funding for some time and have been relying on the community, which has been supportive.
But, everything points to a tough ride for them from now onwards.
The Hwange-based side recently admitted they were in a difficult spot and their situation might worsen because of the negative economic effects posed by the pandemic.
However, they remain hopeful they will find a way to address the financial challenges.
RANL secretary-general, Moses Gukurume, said the situation has affected a lot of their programmes and he expressed concern over the capacity of some of the clubs to survive the effects of the pandemic.
“We are not very sure as to the extent of the damage to the companies but we are very sure that a considerable amount of damage has been done and this affects the sponsorship to the teams.
“Our biggest fear is we don’t know if other companies will come back to sponsor the clubs and for some clubs, which are sponsored by individuals like Flow Angels, given they are small teams, we don’t know if they are going to come back.
“We are limited in terms of what we can do to help them. What we can do is to encourage teams to remain active through online training programmes.
“But, in terms of their survival, there isn’t much we can do.
“This lockdown has affected our athletes in a big way because most of them rely on the sport for their livelihood,” Gukurume said.
The league’s executive are still to come up with the way forward regarding how they will handle the season in the event the environment allows for sport to resume.
“As an executive we are still engaging our constituency. We requested different groups in our league to come up with contributions as to how we will proceed post-lockdown period.
“Other decisions will be made as and when the government lift the ban on the gatherings.
“We will be guided by what the Ministry of Sport will say and the guidelines they will prescribe,” said Gukurume.
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