Midrand Royals Netball Club performs well despite challenges
MIDRAND – Midrand Royals Netball Club stays optimistic said Thato Pieterse, adding that the players' morale was high and they just needed to train more.
The head coach of Midrand Royals Netball Club, Thato Pieterse, said her teams performed well recently despite the challenges the teams faced.
This comes after the Midrand Open team beat Liverpool Netball Club 35–20 in a Johannesburg Netball Association league game at the Zoo Lake courts on September 18.
Pieterse said the club played two games on the day, one being the Open team’s match and the other being their U17 team’s game in the Spring Tournament at the Midrand Action Indoor Arena in Midstream.
Although the teams performed well, Pieterse said the club did not have proper training facilities. “Midrand does not have official netball courts where we can practise so we depend on a local school’s netball courts. There are no lights so we cannot practise midweek,” she explained.
“Our practice days are limited to Friday afternoons where we do a lot of fitness and then Saturdays where we do our actual practising because we practise in the morning and there is light.”
She added that because they do not have enough time to train, they found it challenging during games.
“The fitness of the team is not optimal. The girls get tired a lot during games and if we do not have a lot of players on our game days, we cannot have a lot of substitutes which leads to a decline in the team’s performance.”
Pieterse said despite this, both teams’ morale was high. “The U17s played very well, they enjoyed their time in Midstream. It was more of a fun day for them.”
Details: Midrand Royals Netball Club head coach Thato Pieterse 073 867 9004; thatomodubu@gmail.com; assistant coach Lindi Mgweba 073 833 6280.
Related Article:
Midrand Royal Netball Club calls netball lovers to join a new league
