January 2023 – She Reps Sports Magazine

Team is 90% ready says Handura

Head coach of the Namibian women’s national indoor hockey team, Erwin Handura stated, his squad is nearly ready for the upcoming Indoor Hockey World Cup.

Photo: Namibia Hockey Union

The highly anticipated competition is set to commence this week, with Namibia placed in Pool B alongside Ukraine, Czech Republic, Belgium, Kazakhstan, and Canada.

In an interview with SRSM, Handura, who held his team’s training camp in the Netherlands, shared that the squad had a productive preparation for the World Cup, as the team competed in several high-intensity games against local clubs in that country. He stated that they gained valuable lessons from these matches and made necessary adjustments to address their shortcomings.

“The team’s readiness, both mentally and physically, is at a high level, and we’re looking forward to our first match on Sunday,” Handura expressed confidently.

The team will start their journey in the tournament with a tie against Kazakhstan on February 5th and will go on to face Canada on the 6th, Ukraine on the 7th, and Czech Republic on the 9th.

Despite being satisfied with the team’s overall fitness, Handura acknowledged that they will need to make some final tweaks ahead of the tournament. However, he emphasized that he is confident in his team’s preparation and performance.

“The team is 90% ready for this competition. We will need to do some few adjustments ahead of the first encounter. But overall I am satisfied,” he added

Namibia’s women’s team qualified directly for the Indoor World Cup as the continental champions.

The event, initially scheduled to take place in Liege, Belgium in February 2022, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The sixth edition of the tournament, set to take place this year, will mark the first time it will be held outside of Europe.

Teams Gain Promotion to MTC Namibian Netball Premier League

Netball Namibia President Rebecca Goagoses has expressed her satisfaction with the level of play displayed during the recent MTC NNPL play-offs.

The play-offs, which took place at the Wanderers netball court over the weekend, saw nine teams compete for a place in the top flight netball league.

The five teams that won their respective regional leagues, as well as the four teams that finished at the bottom of the 2022 netball season, took part in the play-offs.

Photo: Contributed

After a full day of intense competition, Fatou NC, Northern Fly Ballers NC, Wanderers NC, and Young Stars emerged as the winners and gained promotion to the MTC NNPL.

Wanderers head coach, Erica van Zyl, was confident in her team’s abilities from the start and praised their hard work and practice leading up to the play-offs. She said,

“I knew from the beginning that my team had the capacity to advance to the MTC NNPL. We have quality players, some of whom have been exposed to the highest level of the netball game. Despite the difficulty, I had no doubt that we would make it through,” she said

The president of Netball Namibia was impressed with the overall performance of all teams during the play-offs and expressed her satisfaction with the competition.

“I am happy with how the play-offs went. It went as planned, thanks to our sponsors MTC, who ensured that everything went smoothly. In terms of the quality of play on the court, all teams showed that they deserved to be in the premier league, showcasing the style of play that demonstrates the growth of netball in the region. With opportunities provided to all regions, the premier league will continue to attract more quality players,” she said

The new netball season is expected to commence in March 2023, with Otjiwarongo-based Mighty Gunners reigning as the current champions. With the impressive display of talent during the play-offs, fans can anticipate a high level of netball play when the league begins.