dyton mupawaenda
Veronica Gwaze-Zimpapers Sports Hub
IT promises to be an exciting week for Bulawayo with the stage set for the first edition of the “Elite Eight” Netball Tournament scheduled for December 8-10 at White City Netball Courts.
The tournament brings together Makopo, Freestars, Lethal Angels, Panthers, Khami Community and Sobukazi Under-20 teams to showcase their talents.
Organised by renowned Tacca Super Netball League coach Sibonginkosi Dube who mentors GreenFuel, the contest will be played in a round robin format.
The top four teams will then proceed to the semis and then the finals of the competition.
“It has been a while trying to put this idea into reality, but I give credit to my partner Engineer Mukoyi and Sportszone our stakeholders for their commitment,” said Dube.
“We borrowed the idea from South Africa’s TNL tournament format so we start with round robin then top four teams proceed to the semis and then finals respectively.”
So far, six teams have confirmed participation with a slot for two more still open.
Of the six, there are two invited teams, Matabeleland South and Matabeleland North.
“Due to reasons beyond our control, we were not allowed to invite teams from the other regions although we wanted them to be part of the event,” she added.
“We intend to have the tourney as an annual thing, if all goes well.
“Kits and balls will be provided for the tournament and each team will take those items home after the contest.”
Coach Dube is celebrated in domestic netball for assembling a strong youthful side composed of raw talent, finishing the 2022 and 2023 seasons as Premier Netball League Runners-Up.
This was before the Chisumbanje based side jumped ship to Tacca Super Netball League at the start of the year.
The buoyant mentor is also known as a disciplinarian with a passion for identifying talent in fringe communities, converting them to dominating stars.
“The idea behind having Under-20 teams is because we want to give back to the community through investing in grassroots,” she said. “It will also be a platform to raise awareness in our aggressive fight against teen-pregnancies, early marriages and drug and substance abuse.
“We also realised that there is a gap across provinces in terms of talent identification and player database which has resulted in our national teams being affected.
“So we agreed that most of the talent in this age group can only be identified by going into their communities for scouting because often those living in rural areas, miss information on trials resulting in such remaining unnoticed.”
She added, “Also having such tournaments closer to their homes keeps the young girls interested in the game.
“We want to maintain the interest so that we do not have a gap in the national team whereby if the current crop gets to retirement we are left with a void, forcing us to go into an agonizing rebuilding exercise.”
With a few teams from the Southern Region and Matabeleland playing in the various domestic leagues, Dube said the tournament could motivate others.
“We have few teams in our leagues so with this tournament, we are also trying to steer interest across societies,” she said.
“In turn, it will also lure cooperates to develop interest in the game and consider investing in more teams.
“If all this happens, our leagues will be more competitive and we will have good talent for our national teams.”
Online Reporter
