Yours truly has never been one to shy away from rolling with the punches and calling a spade by its name, not a BIG SPOON.
I’ve noticed that some blokes are mocking me on social media for my reaction when learning that our national senior netball team, the Desert Jewels, were notable absentees at the just ended Africa Nations Cup held at the Bellville Veledrome in Cape Town, South Africa.
I questioned the rationale of shunning a continental championship in favour of competing in the “more appealing” six-nation M1 Netball Nations Cup in Singapore, alongside Southern African neighbours Botswana.
As it turned out, the Desert Jewels hit the ground running winning two of their opening matches whilst drawing against the host nation to shoot to the top of the log standings after three rounds of matches.
My concern was about the choice and ultimate quality of the competition and I still maintain it was an unwise decision.
Well, as it stands, performance-wise our girls have done extremely well and deserve a decent pat on the back for their astonishing improvement, which only augurs well in terms of confidence going forward.
Fair enough, where are those who castigated the team when they fared badly in the regional tournament tournament in South Africa, last time around – shouting for the team to be dismantled because it apparently did not truly represent the demographics of the country, with tribal undertones and insults dominating the social media? I’m just wondering.
This is the very same team that was subjected to all sorts of unimaginable abuse on social media but when they win, it’s a Namibian team and when losing it becomes an ethnic team. What kind of hypocrisy is that?
Surprisingly, every Dick, even Tom and never mind Harry is now suddenly heaping praises on the team’s performances. Jah neh, some people just never cease to amaze me.
Bitter coach wants his job back at NFA
Whispers in the deep have it that a former member of the Brave Warriors technical staff is dragging the country’s football governing body NFA to the labour court for unfair dismissal.
This is an unpleasant episode unfolding in our football in the middle of boardroom wrangles that have seen the country’s flagship football league (NPL) grounded. Now, the fundamental question that needs to be addressed is; was there any post-mortem conducted upon completion of the Brave Warriors lukewarm showing in Egypt?
In any decent structures, the technical team should have tabled a comprehensive report on the team’s performance for evaluation. By the way, from yours truly’s understanding, the employment contract of head coach Ricardo Mannetti has run full circle, but alas there should be some kind of decency when two parties part ways.
In the case of an employee’s contract coming to an end, performance appraisal should be conducted to measure success and failure before a final decision is taken. Sometimes one finds contracts with options to extend and so forth. I rest my case.