22 Aug 2018

The netball national team returned home empty handed after failing to qualify for the Netball World Cup 2019.

The girls managed to win only two games during the Africa Netball World Cup qualifiers which were recently held in Lusaka, Zambia.

In their opening game they were beaten 50-43 by Zambia. Zimbabwe also had their fair share demolishing the locals 53-28, and in their third game they were beaten by Malawi 58-32.

Uganda was also not behind in collecting points from Botswana as they won 66 – 35. However the local girls redeemed their pride beating Kenya 55-27 and in their last game against Namibia they won 59-56.

Although they did not qualify for the World Cup, coach Dorette Badenhorst said in an interview that Botswana needed to participate on a regular basis in international test games and events in order to compete at the international level.

She said it was important to have structures and systems in place for schools, clubs at junior and senior level to have the best players available for national team selection.

“To be competitive at international netball teams have to compete at  the international level on a regular basis. The high intensity and level of physical play of African netball was the major challenge,” she said.

Dot, as Badenhorst is affectionally known in netball, had coached Gauteng Golden Fireballs. She said their preparations ahead of the qualifiers was good except for one player who was not granted leave to represent the national team.She however said five weeks for a competitive tournament like Africa qualifiers were not sufficient.

The coach said she was of the view that financial assistance to create the environment would be crucial, adding that it’s in the best interest of woman in sport and netball in Botswana.

“These players have immense potential and should be supported and granted international exposure they will move up in the rankings rapidly,” she said.

Meanwhile, Uganda and Zimbabwe will join Australia, England, Fiji, Jamaica, Malawi, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Samoa, Scotland and South Africa who had already qualified for next summer’s tournament.

The final four teams will be confirmed in September following the regional qualifying events for the Americas and Asia regions. ENDS