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Tadious Manyepo Sports Reporter 

GEMS head coach Ropafadzo Mutsauki says the scheduled tour of the UK by the senior national netball team for a series of friendly matches in July will give his players the much-needed international exposure. 

Zimbabwe have been invited to play friendly games against some of the top European countries in Manchester, England, from July 17-24. 

While the European teams will use the meet to prepare for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games which Zimbabwe is not part of, it is also part of the re-engagement initiative being championed by President Mnangagwa’s Second Republic. 

Efforts to rejoin the Commonwealth have already begun with the country having already applied for readmission into the grouping. 

Scotland, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland have already confirmed their participation. 

“This invitation means a whole lot of things for us,” said Mutsauki. 

“We will be playing against some of the best teams in the world in these friendlies. Our players will be motivated to do well against these teams just to show we are also competitive. 

“The games will also be sanctioned by the international federation meaning they will have an impact on our rankings. So we will go there having made the best possible preparations so as to do well. 

“We are in the process of assessing players across the board so that when we start our camp next month, we will have all those whom we believe can do the job for us. 

“We will have assessments for players in each province and pick those we think have what it takes before we whittle down to the required number,” Mutsauki said. 

The Gems were invited by tournament organisers Ree Sports whose director is a Zimbabwean based in the UK, Godfrey Mugadza, younger brother to the late duo of former Dynamos chairman, Phillip Mugadza, and renowned football follower Freddy “Pasuwa” Mugadza, who died in the United States two years ago. 

He was supportive of the Gems when they played in the Vitality World Cup in 2019 in Liverpool, England, and he has decided to galvanise his romance with the team after signing a MoU with the Zimbabwe Netball Association (ZINA). 

Godfrey Mugadza said he was impressed by the Gems in the 2019 World Cup and has decided to go to bed with the team as part of his efforts to plough back to the community. 

“Ree Sports have invited the Gems to be part of this meet. All the paperwork is done and we are looking forward to the tournament. 

“We have since signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the national association and the tour by the Gems is part of a number of initiatives we have lined-up to help develop the game of netball in Zimbabwe. 

“We decided to invite the Gems for this meet so we can help improve their performance going forward. 

“The games run between July 17-24 and we hope the team will improve in several aspects of their game. “I haven’t really been in sports before but I feel I need to carry on the legacy left behind by my brothers who were renowned sports people. 

“I was impressed when I watched the Gems at the World Cup in 2019.