The head coach of Namibia Correctional Service (NCS) who are the reigning champions of the MTC Netball Namibia Premier League (NNPL), said their preparations for the Fast Five tournament tomorrow faced a bit of a challenge as they could not get enough training due to persistent rain over the past few days.
Manuel Tjivera told New Era Sport they could thus not train in a way they needed to.
“The trainings are being disengaged by the rain every day. I believe heading into Saturday’s matches, we highly doubt if we will reach the fitness level we want to,” he said.
The much-anticipated Fast Five Cup netball tournament organised by the MTC Netball Namibia Premier League will be staged at the United Sports Field. It is aimed at preparing teams for the new season slated to commence next month.
Tjivera also raised concern over the short notice they received for the competition.
“We were told about the competition at short notice, which I thought is more stressful. I think this tournament should have been played at the end of the season, not ahead of the new season,” he said.
Tigers head coach Morne Pienaar also said he was doubtful they will reach the fitness level they want ahead of the games on Saturday, given the fact that they had little time to prepare.
“Rain has been pouring and we are trying by all means to train. We are down for the challenge, although it’s not going to be an easy challenge. We lost a few players in our team and we have a new crop of players we’re waiting to test, so we are at the moment hoping to have the best preseason tournament,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bobsy Musambani of Eleven Arrows said his players are looking forward to the game, although it’s completely new to them and they are trying to learn the rules. He, however, is confident the tournament will play a huge role in their preparations for a new season, which they are looking forward to.
“We received the rules and format of this game. We are busy working hard to familiarise ourselves with the rules, but we are positive that this tournament will be of great benefit to the players as it will increase our fitness capacity,” he said.
Among other rules, only five players per team will be on the court, and will play for less than 10 minutes.