Giyani Vipers are Mayor’s Cup Netball champs

The shooting combination between Mixo Shitlhavani and Charmaine Ngobeni steered the Vipers to victory in the tournament presented by the Greater Giyani Municipality. They regained their former glory as the tournament’s dominant team after Sunday’s win. The Vipers have been the dominant team in past Mayor’s Cup tournaments due to some of its players being affiliated with regional netball leagues.

Confirming this, Mixo Shitlhavani, who was selected as the top goal scorer of the tournament, said their dominance comes from hard work. “Some of us play in netball leagues, so we come here to practice every week, while other teams only practice for the annual Mayor’s Cup. “Obviously, they can’t be superior compared to a team that practices every day,” she said.

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Another young player, and one  of the top goal scorers playing for Vipers, Charmaine Ngobeni, was very excited that her team won the tournament. “It is my first time in the Mayor’s Cup tournament; I have never had such an overwhelming feeling from winning,” she said. The Vipers have competed in every Mayor’s Cup tournament in the past until the municipality introduced the age limit around 2016, which forbade some of its players from participating in the tournament.

Since then, the netball games were not very exciting until recently when the municipality relaxed the age limit across all the sporting codes participating in the tournament. The winning team in the netball category received a trophy, 15 gold medals, two netball kits, two balls, and R13 600 in cash. The runner-up received R10 600 and 15 silver medals with kits and balls. The third team received R7 600 and 15 bronze medals along with a netball kit and one ball, while the fourth team earned R5 600 with a netball kit and one ball.