It was a busy afternoon and evening on January 22, as netball players began their season training and games. Action Sports had their training sessions for juniors and matches for senior teams. The games are a build-up for the upcoming Senior Super League that will take place on February 3 at the Action Sports Arena Hillfox.
The Super League is one of their biggest tournaments that takes place beginning of the year.
Coach Xoli Nyamanda, or Coach X, has his own academy called the Factor Academy. They have two teams participating in the league consisting of the U21 women (the Hillfox Hawks) and his mixed U23 team. The Hawks are currently placed in the top two and the U23s are sitting pretty at the top of their respective leagues.
He is hopeful that his teams will both work hard and play their best as he regularly has training sessions with each team to build their confidence and skills. The Super League helps them to grow as action netball players to participate in high-performance leagues and clubs in the future. The U21 team mostly consists of young women who are 15–16 years old, but play in the senior category against experienced teams.
“I believe in both my teams to take the gold again this year because besides the hard work, both have passion for the sport and that is what will get them to succeed,” Nyamanda mentioned.
While teams have regular games in the evening, their coach mentions how it is mostly practice and polishing some techniques and gameplay for the upcoming Super Leagues.
