The Parks draw with rival team in mini tournament
Challenges which include lack of sponsorship and fitness are what The Parks Netball team would like to tackle.
A mini-tournament was turned into a friendly match as The Parks Netball team based in Parkhurst played against Kempton Park Netball. The game took place on April 1 at Parkhurst Primary School. Busi Zikhali of The Parks said the game was okay although it didn’t go according to plan as it had originally been planned as a mini-tournament.
There were supposed to have been three additional teams participating, making it four altogether. However, because of the cold weather during the week, two teams cancelled and only one team ended up going and it became a friendly match.
“We enjoyed ourselves. The game was challenging and the ladies played very well. I was impressed with the way we played because even though we didn’t have enough substitutes, the ones who pitched in pushed hard. Most times when we play with the Kempton Park Netball team we lose so we were quite nervous but we gave it our best.
“The first quarter we did very well because we were leading but another challenge we had as a team is that we were playing against young ones from Kempton Park. The younger ones moved swiftly against us and the result was a draw of 31 -31,” Zikhali said.
She thanked everyone who showed up on the day and extended a thank you to Isaac Vurayayi who helped with preparations for the game as well as their new coach who wasn’t feeling well but helped in the background.
Zikhali said, “We need to improve our fitness because we get tired easily and we need to be able to finish matches at the same pace as other teams.”
She said as a team they are still looking for sponsors because of a challenge with funds. Zikhali said they need funds to be able to travel. “Most tournaments require us to pay. So we have a challenge of cash because people who play here are mostly domestic workers who don’t earn a lot. Refreshments, balls and coaches need to be paid for, therefore sponsorships and donations will help us get far,” Zikhali concluded.
Related articles:
https://www.citizen.co.za/rosebank-killarney-gazette/377239/team-spirit-revived/
https://www.citizen.co.za/rosebank-killarney-gazette/268218/forward-goes-the-parks-netball-team/
