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Ellina Mhlanga

Sports Reporter

SENIOR national netball team coach Lloyd Makunde says they will have an uphill task to prepare the Gems for some of the events expected to take place in the year due to the Covid-19-induced break.

There are a number of competitions lined up for the year for the national team but it will depend on whether the environment is conducive for the team to travel.

Some of the events the Zimbabwe Netball Association are considering for the senior side include the Pent Series in Namibia scheduled for May, which is important for points and world rankings.

This will be followed by the Africa Cup expected in June to be staged in Namibia and an invitational tournament between August and September in Morocco, which is also crucial for rankings.

Local competition, through league games and tournaments, remain key in preparing players for the various competitions and provide coaches a platform to select their teams based on performance.

But the circumstances have not allowed for normal sporting activities to resume since last year.

Makunde acknowledges there will be short and long-term effects when it comes to the senior national team.

“It (the lockdown) has affected the national team so much because since March, players have never trained and now all sporting activities were stopped of which that was the right call according to the situation. So we actually don’t know how far we will have to go in terms of starting again.

“But there is need for time again when players are allowed back to training because no one is practising or training right now. So if ever we are allowed to start, there is need for some time for players to train with their clubs before we start as a national team.

“There is no way we can just jump into any event or tournament or anything when we get the go-head again. There is need for some time to let the players train with their clubs first, so that they will shake off the rust,” said Makunde.

Netball had been allowed to resume activities late last year prior to the current suspension of all sporting activities.

“The advantage was that we had been allowed back in December and the earliest fixture, I think was in March, so players would have been okay if they had started in January. By the time we get to March it would have been fine, we would have been able to go around identifying players.

“But now everything is off, so we don’t know if those fixtures would be played or not, we are just waiting to see what the situation would be like,” noted Makunde.

After making some strides on the world rankings, Makunde emphasised the need to continue on that trajectory.

“When I was appointed at national team level we were at number 17 and if we climb up the ladder we need to maintain wherever we are…It’s very important that we maintain and we keep climbing up the ladder.

“So whatever step we make, we really need to maintain it, it’s very important that we maintain it. It is our objective to keep on climbing up the ladder,” said Makunde.

Besides focusing on the national teams, the national association is also targeting to strengthen their partnerships with schools through the establishment of centres to cater for the identified talent.

But they will have to wait a little bit longer as the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic continues.