05 Jul 2015

Africa Netball president, Tebogo Lebotse- Sebego has commended players for displaying quality play at the just ended Africa Netball Championships in Gaborone.

Lebotse-Sebego said the competition was competetive throughout the tournament and that it was not obvious who would emerge champions at the end of the four-day tournament.

She said the fact that every team suffered a loss was an indication that the tournament was tough.

She advised players to respect umpires and not react negatively  to the decisions made by umpires. “Umpires are there to conduct the game and players need to respect them, don’t sulk or react negatively to the whistle because it would mess up your game plan,” she noted.

Lebotse-Tebogo, who is also Botswana Netball Association (BONA) president, commended the local organising committee for a sterling job in delivering the games more.

She noted that they were organised in less than 10 days following Namibia’s withdrawal to stage the competition.

She also noted that the games help the country to grade itself, and to up the game as the country readies to stage the World Youth Netball Championships in 2017.


She thanked the International Netball Federation for their support, adding that Botswana alone could not stage successful games without the federation.

She also applauded the AN delegation from different countries together with the umpires and technical team for heeding Botswana’s call and attending the games .

Commenting on Botswana’s performance, she said the girls should have done themselves a favour and beat Swaziland in their first game, adding that it could have put them in a better position to finish well.

Lebotse- Sebego said team Botswana’s poor performance was due to the fact that they had introduced new players and hence were still blending with experienced players.

She highlighted that the games were an opportunity for the youngsters to gauge themselves against senior players from other countries which would come in handy in 2017.

The vice president of Africa Netball and Zimbabwe Netball president, Letitia Chipandu said she was impressed with the games as they were played according to international rules.

Chipandu said there was need for consistency in umpires so that Africa keeps track of its qualified umpires and avoid wasting funds training people who would ditch the game.

She applauded Botswana for hosting the championships at a short notice, adding that she wishes Botswana all the best in hosting successful games in 2017.


The Zimbabwe netball president said she was overwhelmed because her country has been crowned champions, attributing this to hand work.

“We have never missed any tournament despite financial constraints since we source out sponsorship from private sector and this proves our commitment,” she said.
Chipandu said she was confident team Zimbabwe would  have what it takes to go to the World Cup in the future. ENDS