Maurice Kambukwe
WINDHOEK – The 15-member squad that was recently selected to represent Namibia at the upcoming M1 Six Nations Cup in Singapore from 20 – 26 October has been intensively hard at work and remains well geared to make the country proud.
The M1 Six Nations Cup takes place from 20 – 26 of this month at the OCBC Arena at Singapore Sports Hub and Namibia will compete against neighbours Botswana, Cook Islands, Ireland, Papua New Guinea and host country Singapore.
The six-nation netball championship will see Namibia returning to the tournament since 2012 where they will be looking to improve on their third place finish seven years ago. Last month, Netball Namibia (NN) announced a 15-member squad to represent the country in Singapore and three of the 15 players are non-travelling members.
New Era Sport recently checked up on the team’s preparations and on how they are keeping up ahead of their much-awaited return to the M1 Six Nations Cup, and assistant coach Antoinette Wentworth was at hand to provide an update.
An excited Wentworth said she and the entire technical staff were overwhelmed with the way the players are learning and easily adopting to new skills and implementing them, especially the junior players in the squad.
“Happy with the progress the players have made so far and we’re looking forward to continued progress until we leave for Singapore. They (players) are working hard and learning a lot from each other. We are trying to implement new knowledge and skills,” said Wentworth.
The squad was selected right after this year’s Debmarine Namibia Regional Championship, and comprises regular senior players and junior players, whom Wentworth described as a perfect blend of talent.
“The senior players selected are providing excellent guidance to the juniors and as coaches, we are very pleased with their willingness and responsiveness to accept a whole new style of play and coaching,” added Wentworth.