Midrand Royals netball team reopens 2024 with intense training session

The first training session for the Midrand Royals Netball team started with an intense workout with players taken through their paces.

Fast 5 star and North West Flames captain Didintle Keebine from Vorna Valley led the training at Curro Sagewood on January 20.

Coach Thato Pieterse said Keebine assumed the role of leading the first training session for the team because of her invaluable experience from plying her trade in the South African Telkom league and being a Fast 5 Netball World Series runner-up with the South African squad in 2022.

She said as a coach, her overall assessment of the team and the session was positive, with Keebine bringing a valuable blend of skills, strategy, and motivation to elevate the team’s performance. “However, the team should urgently focus on improving communication and coordination on the court, refining defensive strategies, and enhancing overall fitness levels to meet the demands of competitive play. The highlights for me were the team incorporation of innovative drills by Didintle, fostering a positive and competitive training environment,” said Pieterse.

Goal attacker Sinegugu Ntuli said, “I look forward to the year as we have to learn from each other as players. We need to be consistent and passionate as players and we were not so strong on passes but she [Keebine] helped us to overcome that. I think we need to challenge ourselves as players. I think I would be happy to try a new position, especially the defence side.”

A young and versatile Zazi Kalako, who plays centre and wing attack, said she was impressed with the overall session. “I am looking forward to growing as a player and overall as a team. We did new drills and there are lots of aspects that we need to work on. It’s the first day of training and slowly but surely we will pick up,” said Kalako.

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