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Ellina Mhlanga Senior Sports Reporter

GEMS’ and Surrey Storm goal defender Felisitus Kwangwa is slowly establishing herself as one of the key players for the Vitality Netball Superleague club, which has seen her getting more game-time of.

This is Kwangwa’s second season with Surrey Storm after the club re-signed her for the 2022 season.

The Gems’ captain had her debut season with the club last year and her performance impressed the club.

Unlike the previous season where she had limited game-time, Kwangwa seems to be making in-roads at Surrey Storm despite missing the pre-season preparations and the opening games of the season due to some delays on her departure to the United Kingdom caused by Covid-19.

She has so far made a number of appearances for the club, making the starting seven in two matches.

“I am really happy with that though I still have a lot of work to do so that I will always find myself in that team.

“It’s hard to make it into the team as there is high competition. So I take each day and every session as an opportunity towards my improvement in the game.

“So far I have appeared in the team seven times and made it on the first team the previous two games.

“It really means a lot and I believe I had a positive impact on the general team’s performance,” said Kwangwa.

The Zimbabwean player said she is building on what she learnt last season and hopes to keep improving her game.

“It’s always hard to get into a new environment and being the first preference. I took last season as a learning curve and I hope I absorbed much that will be enough to make me sustain the position that I am in right now of being on the first line-up.”

Surrey Storm grabbed their fourth win for the season when defeating Wasps 67-59 on Monday night. Kwangwa made the starting seven for that game.

Out of nine games, they have won four and lost five.

They are currently placed seventh on the log table with 12 points.

Last season Surrey Storm finished on position 10 in the 11-team league. They are pushing for a better season this year.

Kwangwa said it’s still work in progress but is confident they have the ability to turn around their fortunes.

“Still not yet there as a team but working towards the team that we vowed to become after we lost it last season.

“But generally (I am) impressed by the team’s performance as we have recorded four wins so far in the first round unlike the previous one where we only managed to get four wins the whole season.”

“The team has all what it takes to win all the remaining games which will take us to the finals so we just need to stay composed and prepared to win every battle that we come across,” said Kwangwa.

The season which began in February ends in June with the Grand Final.