The team manager of Eastern Chiefs Netball Club, Kanyanso Mateu, emphasised that their promotion to the topflight league was well-deserved, attributing it to the team’s hard work.
He said this following their successful promotion to the MTC Namibia Netball Premier League on Saturday, alongside other promoted teams, namely Unam Jaguars, Unam Ogongo, and Tsumeb Netball Club. The four teams are set to replace relegated counterparts Eleven Arrows, Northern Fly Baller, Rebels, and Fatou.
Mateu shared his thoughts on the challenging playoffs, highlighting the team’s resilience despite receiving the invitation just a week before the playoffs. Despite the limited preparation time, he expressed confidence in the squad’s potential and acknowledged their victory as a testament to their excellence.
“The playoffs posed an unexpected challenge for our club, catching us off guard after becoming champions of the Kavango East regional league in September. Initially, our regional committee informed us that the playoffs would occur in January of the following year, leading us to relax our preparations,” Mateu explained.
“However, just eight days before the playoff date, we received a sudden invitation. Despite the lack of adequate preparation time, we demonstrated our prowess and emerged victorious, underscoring our status as the best in the competition,” he added.
Looking ahead to their venture into the premier league, Mateu conveyed the team’s passion to face formidable opponents like Blue Waters and Unam Jaguars. He emphasised that their promotion was no stroke of luck and declared their determination to compete fiercely, aspiring to secure a position among the top four.
After the play-offs, Netball Namibia board released a statement congratulating the newly promoted teams. The statement acknowledged the diverse representation of teams from different regions, reflecting the widespread love and popularity of netball across Namibia.
“On behalf of the Netball Namibia executive board and indeed on behalf of the entire netball fraternity, I express heartfelt congratulations on your outstanding success at the MTC Namibia Netball Premier League (NNPL) playoffs. The diversity represented by your teams, each hailing from a different region of Namibia, is a testament to the widespread love and popularity of netball across the country,” said the statement.
United 12 Netball Club did not pitch for the playoffs, with all their opponents getting a 15-0 default scoreline.