Action in the MTC Netball Namibia Premier League (NNPL) will continue with rounds nine and 10 of the 2023 season this weekend, with the northern derbies taking centre stage at Ogongo College in the Omusati region.
Only the bottom four teams will be in action, while the rest of the teams will be enjoying a rare weekend off.
Action will get underway tomorrow between the ninth-placed Young Stars, who have six points on the log, and the Rebels, who are number 10 on the log and have six points, while the 11th-placed Northern Fly Ballers (who have six points as well) will then take to the court to face Fatou, who are at the bottom of the log and have yet to register a single point this season.
Young Stars will then return to the court to face Fatou in the third match of the day.
Speaking to this publication yesterday, Northern Fly Ballers head coach David Tutaleni said the team had a good week of training with all their players together. He added that weekend games will be tough, but they remain ready for every challenge.
“We had a great week training with players, where we reviewed our mistakes from our previous matches and also looked at how and where we need to improve, which is quite positive for the players. I know these games are going to be tough, but we are going to aim for maximum points to ensure we are in a safe position after the weekend. We have a match against Fatou, who are last on the log, and we would like to win by a huge margin against them, but we are also aware it won’t be easy,” he said.
On Sunday, action will again continue with a tie between the Young Stars and Northern Fly Ballers before Rebels wrap up the weekend with a tie against Fatou in an exciting tie.
Next weekend will see the derbies shift to Otjiwarongo, where Otjozondjupa Nampol will square off with Mighty Gunners on Saturday, while the Navy will battle with Eleven Arrows in another coastal derby.
In Windhoek, the teams based in the capital will also battle against each other in rounds nine and 10 of the second leg.
These are the log leaders: Namibia Correctional Services, Wanderers, Afrocat and Tigers.
Meanwhile, Netball Namibia will be holding an advanced umpire training course in Windhoek on 11 and 12 August to build capacity and depth in the umpiring department.
The training will be taken to the rest of the regions in due course.