Otniel Hembapu
Netball Namibia (NN) vice-president Rebecca Goagoses confirmed that Namibia has received an invitation from Netball South Africa (NSA) to partake in the upcoming Spar Challenge slated for Cape Town, but said NN is still considering the invite.
The Spar Challenge will take place in Cape Town next month and will mark the return of netball activities in that country. Besides Namibia, NSA also extended the same invitation to the She Cranes of Uganda, who will be joined by local sides Proteas U/21 and the SA President Invitational squad.
The tournament is anticipated to take place between 24-30 March and will be played in a bio-bubble. Giving an update to this publication, Goagoses said the Spar Challenge is one of the most important netball tournaments on the continent as participants get to improve their rankings and therefore Namibia will look at all means possible to ensure the country partakes in the competition next month.
“We did get the invitation from NSA, but we haven’t yet taken a final decision as to whether we will honour their invitation or not. We are still looking into financial and logical issues and in the coming weeks, we will have a final decision as to whether we will compete there or not. We have however been very busy talking to various sponsors and partners because this tournament is very important for Namibia to improve her rankings. It’s recognised internationally and it offers top competition and that is something our girls need at this point in time. Fitness-wise, the team has been busy training hard and the coaches have really been putting in a lot of work, so it all tells you that we are ready to compete. It’s just a matter of getting assistance to sort out financers and logistics,” said Goagoses.
The Desert Jewels, as Namibia’s senior netball side is affectionately known, have been on an upward trajectory following their historic win of the 13th edition of M1 Nations Cup in Singapore in 2019. The Desert Jewels defeated hosts Singapore in that final 49–42 to bring home their first ever M1 Nations Cup trophy.
-ohembapu@nepc.com.na