Clubs campaigning in the MTC Netball Premier League (NPL) have welcomed the Fast Five Cup, a pre-season tournament slated for next week at the Trustco United Sport Grounds in the capital.

Netball Namibia (NN) recently announced that all 12 NPL clubs will partake in the season-opening Fast Five Cup, which is aimed at preparing the teams for the new season, expected to kick off next month.

Yesterday, NN officially released the tournament fixtures, and confirmed that the games will be played on 19 February.

The competition will see newly-promoted side Afrocat Lions getting a taste of premium netball action, and club representative Dimitri Bittler said the pre-season tournament will be a great opportunity for their players to test their fitness levels.

Being a new kid on the NPL block, Bittler said the competition will also accord them an opportunity to know their opponents much better on the courts.

“It is an important tournament, especially for us since we are a new team in the premier league. We expect tough competition because of the format of the tournament, as only five players per team will be on the court, and will play for less than 10 minutes, which makes the tempo of the game very tough,” he added.

Meanwhile, Namibia Navy Netball Club’s sports officer Charles Muukua also welcomed the tournament, saying it will be a perfect platform to give their new players a run, and to also try different tactics ahead of the new season. “It is a great opportunity for both players and the club as a whole to measure ourselves and see how far we have come. Players will be tested at the highest level of the game in terms of speed and pressure. It will also test the players’ strength,” he said.  However, some of the clubs have expressed concern with the format of the competition, as they feel that fielding a limited number of players will deny others an opportunity to strut their stuff at the highest level of Namibian netball.

- mkambukwe@nepc.com.na