Maurice Kambukwe
Namibia climbed seven places in the latest netball rankings released recently by the International Netball
Federation (INF), which saw the country move from 30 to a much-improved number 23 on the latest world ratings.
With the latest rankings, Namibia now seats 23rd on the latest log, having accumulated 699 points at the end of May 2020. Reacting to the latest news, Netball Namibia (NN) vice president Rebecca Goagoses yesterday expressed excitement and said the improved rankings are testimony of the players’ hard work.
“It is a significant improvement; this shows that we are amongst the best in the world. That also means that any country can now play us. It’s a great sign that Namibian netball is getting the recognition it deserves and becoming a household name in Africa,” said Goagoses.
She added that the exciting challenge going forward is to build on that improvement by winning more and playing regularly against African and global netball powerhouses.
According to the INF, the rankings are based on all matches that took place prior to the cancellation of all sports activities around the world. The ranking list relates to senior teams of member countries that are playing regular international test matches.
A rating is a measure of the average performance of a team over a series of matches. Each team earns a certain number of points from each international match. Their rating is the total number of points earned divided by the number of matches played.
– mkambukwe@nepc.com.na