Namibian netball slowly awakens

NAMIBIAN netball will take a shot at making a comeback in the international domain when it is set to compete at the COSANA Championships in South Africa later this month.

The chairman of the National Organising Committee, Abner Axel Xoagub, yesterday announced that trials will be held to select the strongest possible sides that will represent Namibia in South Africa from September 18 to 24 and again in Tanzania.Xoagub said Namibia will compete in the Inter-Nations Netball Tournament in Tanzania, a platform which will give the country an opportunity to make a long-awaited comeback to the world of netball.The tournament in Tanzania will be held from September 28 until October 3. He said the trials for the COSANA event will be held this weekend, with a total of 22 players expected to be in a training camp from September 15 to 17 before leaving to South Africa.Xoagub, whose committee was called into life at the instruction of Sport Minister Willem Konjore about two months ago, said players for the national teams will only be selected from regions with functional management, clubs and leagues structures.Regional trials were conducted last weekend, with the nationals due from Friday.Xoagub said his committee will from time to time consult with all the stakeholders but will make the final decisions and recommendations on matters concerning netball in the country. He said this will be in effect for the following 18 months until a new executive and council is elected as per the revised All Namibia Netball Associations (ANNA) constitution. The constitution is currently being reviewed.The other members on the committee are Elize Pieterse, Isack Hamata and Monica Bohitile. corry@namibian.com.na