Leemisa Thuseho

THE national under-21 netball team is in South Africa for a series of friendlies with the neighbouring country.

The games are being played as curtain raisers at the ongoing three-match International Netball Test Series between South Africa senior female netball team and England in Cape Town.

The games started on Friday and are expected to end today.

Lesotho Netball Association public relations officer ‘Mamakebe Moshoeshoe told the Sunday Express that the team left the country on Tuesday.

“We sent a team of 12 players and the trip is fully sponsored by Netball South Africa,” Moshoeshoe said.

“We accepted the invitation because we believe that the games will boost our team’s preparations for the 2021 Netball World Cup.

“We are also using this opportunity to prepare for the Maseru 2020 African Union Sport Council (AUSC) Region 5 Games.”

Lesotho was invited for the games after Zimbabwe pulled out due to unforeseen challenges.
The team’s trip to South Africa forced the postponement of the Lesotho Netball League that had been scheduled to resume yesterday after a two-months break.

Moshoeshoe told the Sunday Express that the league would now resume early next year.

The team’s head coach Munyaradzi Shanduka yesterday said the opportunity would boost his charges’ confidence.

“It is our first time to play in the test series and if we play well against South Africa, that would be proof that we have improved.

“In about seven months the girls will be battling it out in the World Cup qualifiers and they will face top African teams like Malawi, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Uganda and Tanzania. Only four teams qualify for the World Cup and we hope that our girls will be among those,” Shanduka said.

He said he travelled with some players who are new to the national team set-up.

“The new players will learn even from observation if they do not get a chance to play. It is good for them to see how others play at this level because we are grooming them,” Shanduka said.