REPS DOMINATE NETBALL SQUAD

MBABANE – Eswatini National Netball Association (ENNA) has tied down 20 players to represent the kingdom in the 2023 Netball World Cup and six of them are from Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) elite team.

The Netball World Cup tournament will be held in African soil in Cape Town, South Africa, for the first time in history.  ENNA has put up a four-year road map for the senior women’s team, starting in 2020-2023. The balanced team is a combination of experienced and young players selected from eight teams and these are REPS, Mbabane Raiders, Manzini Ladies, Correctional, Sunshine, OlympAfrica and Vixens.

The youngest players are OlympAfrica’s 17-year-old Dolly Magagula and 19-year-old Mukelwe Magagula, who competitively play the Centre (C) position, Wing Defender (WD) and Wing Attacker (WA), while her teammate in 19-year-old Mukelwe Magagula, plays wing defender, centre and wing attacker while Sunshine’s Fezile Dlamini, also aged 19, interchangeably plays as the Goalkeeper (GK) or the Goal Defender (GD).

Sponsorship

According to a sponsorship proposal released by ENNA yesterday, for each stage of the four-year road map, 12 players will be selected from the 20 players to represent the kingdom until a formidable team is identified. Also forming part of the squad are Correctional and REPS prolific goal shooters (GS) Vumile Vilakati, Nonkululeko Sihlongonyane and Vuyisile Thusi.

Other players who have tightened their grip in the national squad are; Bongiwe Magagula, Cebile Sibandze, Nonkhululeko Sihlongonyane, Vumile Vilakati, Phumzile Ncongwane and Abigail Simelane. National team head coach Nhlanhla Friction Mayisela said the players were selected according to their performance and experience at team level

. He highlighted that blending the young and matured players was part of the building process for the final squad.
“I believe that by 2023, the players will be strong enough to compete on the international stage. The older players are the foundation of the team and we are building the team around them. That explains the combination varying in ages,” said Mayisela.

Ultimate

The national team is set to join Africa Netball Championships as part of the first and second stage preparations for the ultimate stage, before joining the Africa Netball World Cup Qualifiers 2023 in the year 2022. These competitions will help them get in shape for the World Cup.

Meanwhile, ENNA is in a bid to raise E200 000 per year for the four-year period through partnership with companies in order to take the formidable side to the global showpiece. The total budget for the four-year plan is E800 000 and this figure will cater for expenses such as transport, accommodation, food and kits.

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