Grace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter

THE Zimbabwe netball Under-20 national team coach, Ropafadzo Mutsauki, says an opportunity to play the Spar Baby Proteas in Cape Town will give the team a perfect opportunity to prepare for future assignments.

The Zimbabwe Under-20 team have been invited to play as curtain-raisers during the three-Test Challenge Netball Series between the Proteas of South Africa and the England Roses

The matches will be played from November 29 to December 1.

South Africa have indicated they will cater for Zimbabwe’s team transport, to the neighbouring country, as well as their stay in the Mother City.

Zimbabwe are excited to showcase their talent at such a big stage which features England, who are ranked third in the world, and South Africa, who are fifth.

Significantly, the Challenge Series will be in the city that will host the 2023 Netball World Cup.

Yesterday, Mutsauki, who is also the national team assistant coach, says he will assemble a competitive team.

“South Africa acknowledges that we are one of the best teams and expects a competitive game from us. So, we will also use the opportunity,’’ he said.

“We have an advantage in that we have a team which played at the Region 5 Games last year and got bronze.

“They are still eligible because when we assembled that team we were looking at the World Cup qualifiers.

“We have a long list which we have already forwarded to the association. We will make a few additions, and subtractions, since one or two players might be unavailable.’’ The coach added the team only requires a short time to prepare since the bulk of the players were active at their clubs.

“We are waiting to get dates when the team is expected to assemble. A few players, who are at school, will need some game time otherwise three quarters of the players are active at their clubs,’’ he said.

“The players that will excel during camp will make the grade to travel to South Africa.’’

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