Charles Tjatindi
Gobabis
A netball enthusiast in the Omaheke Region has called for the establishment of a formal regional league to allow local players an opportunity to showcase their talents.
Constancia Katjimune, a local netball coach who was tasked with leading team Omaheke during the Debmarine Senior Regional Netball Championship in Windhoek earlier this month, told Nampa yesterday the players gave their all in the competition and have proven that there is a great future for netball in Omaheke.
She said there has been an inactivity of close to 10 years in senior netball in Omaheke, which was largely influenced by the absence of a competitive netball league.
“The team that represented Omaheke Region was put together in a matter of less than a month; all this because there is no active netball league,” she said.
Katjimune bemoaned the lack of sponsorship for local netball, noting that the region has a lot of undiscovered talents to expose to the world which is not possible with the current state of affairs.
“I am sure that if we get a sponsor for a netball league, we will go a long way in uplifting local netball,” she said.
She said more local netball tournaments will be organised in due course to raise the profile of the sport in the region, and to give talented players a chance to be spotted by scouts.M
Omaheke ended third out of 10 regions that took part in the tournament, after clinching a 15-14 victory against
Otjozondjupa in a narrowly contested third-place encounter.
The team had earlier lost to an in-form Erongo Region by 37-22 points in the semi-finals.
Omaheke walked away with N$9 000 and bronze. The nail-biting encounter against Otiozondjupa and the team’s overall performance in the competition have local netball pundits believing that netball in the region is on the right path.
The tournament was eventually won by Khomas after edging Erongo 41-29. – Nampa