Julene Meyer, the head coach of the Desert Jewels, said preparations for upcoming international commitments are moving forward smoothly despite major obstacles threatening the team’s plans.
Meyer confirmed that 15 players are currently in camp, working intensively a head of the Celtic Cup in Scotland and the Netball Africa Cup in Malawi.
The national side, Desert Jewels (ranked 15th), is scheduled to depart on 21 November for Scotland, where they will compete against hosts Scotland (ranked 10th), Northern Ireland (ranked 12th), Wales (ranked 6th), and invited teams Zimbabwe (13th) and Uganda (ranked 7th). The tournament is slated to run from November 26 to 30.
However, the Desert Jewels’ preparations have been disrupted by the unavailability of three key players who were selected to travel: goal shooter Louise Dreamy Kausehue, centre Monica Gomases, and goal defender Loide Kanyolo.
Whereas senior players Anna Kasper and Mwale Mulenamaswe were not called up due to personal reasons.
Kausehue is engaged in Namibian Police training (NamPol), while Gomases and Kanyolo are involved in training with the Namibia Correctional Service (NCS).
Netball Namibia president Juanita Witbeen confirmed that the players will not be released, citing internal rules and regulations governing both NamPol and NCS. Their absence is expected to impact squad depth and experience heading into the competition.
Further uncertainty clouds the team’s plans to proceed to Malawi for the Africa Netball Cup immediately after the Scotland tournament. The Africa Netball Cup is from 8 to 14 December and will see host Malawi (8th), Namibia (15th), Zambia (16th), Eswatini (not ranked), Uganda (7th), Botswana (20th), Zimbabwe (13th), Tanzania (not ranked), South Africa (5th), Kenya (23rd) and Lesotho (not ranked) all form part of the countries listed.
Government funding for the Namibian trip has not been approved.
According to the Director of Sport, Jo-ann Manuel, “They can continue, but the government is not part of anything. We will continue to work with them professionally,” Manuel said, casting doubt on whether the Desert Jewels will ultimately make the Malawi trip.
-lmupetami@nepc.com.na