Captain to steer team to glory
Having started playing netball at the age of 10, Hilda Muilwa's meteoric rise was the culmination of representing her district in the South African Champions when she was 16 years old.
Limpopo Baobab captain, Hilda Muilwa caries the team's hope with her all-round intellectual depth of netball.
LIMPOPO – THE ladies in red, white and blue gear who make up the provincial netball side, the Limpopo Baobabs, have never had a first-class run in the Brutal Fruit Netball Premier League.
After suffering two damaging defeats in the hands of Sunbirds and Kingdom Stars recently, they went on to lose to Diamonds and Aloes at the Pretoria University Sports Centre over the weekend.
But if the team captain, Hilda Muilwa’s (27) assurance to win silverware this season is anything to go by, then coach Cecilia Molokwane can stop spending sleepless nights concerned about her reputation being at stake.
Ahead of the Aloes-Baobab encounter, Muilwa was like a cat on hot bricks, citing their little knowledge of their opponents’ game plan. Aloes were relegated to the B stream where the Baobabs are campaigning in and perhaps Muilwa’s fear of the unknown could be justifiable.
“We are playing very well in our division, but luck continues to evade us,” she explained.
Having started playing netball at the age of 10, Muilwa’s meteoric rise was the culmination of representing her district in the South African Champions when she was 16 years old.
The dazzling woman from rural Mulima in the Vhembe district remains the vital cog around which the Baobab machine rotates, performing the whole gamut of tricks at mid-court as a wing attack, wing defender and center.
Above and beyond her impressive footwork, Muilwa distributes her aerial passes with remarkable flourish, knows how to attack and her breathtaking fielding is a force in the game by itself.
Muilwa knows very well how demanding the premier league is, especially that they have not fared pretty well since the inception of this flagship campaign. However, she is simultaneously a cheerful throwback to more innocent times with an appreciative sportsmanship philosophy of “just handle the ball, focus and distribute it well”.
This attitude seldom goes astray, and as Muilwa ponders a return trip to Pretoria for a grueling task, she is unperturbed yet philosophical when she notes: “we have made some cardinal mistakes in our previous seasons and we have learned from them. This time we are going to approach the games with a different approach”.
Asked about her game plan for the entire season, Molokwane opted to play her cards closer to the chest, saying: “no, I can’t disclose that. What if it gets leaked?”
