Pent Series postponed
The annual Debmarine Pent Series, which was scheduled to take place this week, has been postponed to a later date.
The announcement came on Thursday from Netball Namibia (NN), which said they want to give ample time to the newly appointed coaches of the national teams to prepare for the series.
The tournament is an annual event sponsored under a three-year agreement between the NN and Debmarine Namibia.
The series was supposed to see hosts Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as Malawi and Botswana, compete for top honours.
Namibia was to have entered two teams - the Desert Jewels national side and the Shadow Team.
“It will be unfair to expect the new coaching team to carry the same stream of success as Manuel Tjivera in such a short period of time, particularly in reference to Desert Jewels being the defending champs of this cup. Therefore, it is best to postpone the event to allow the coaches to prepare the team well,” said NN spokesperson Conny Samaria.
The coaches were appointed in April, after senior national team coach Tjivera's contract expired in December 2018. Samaria explained the appointment of the new coaches took a while, as the federation had to head-hunt for replacements for the entire senior team technical staff.
The NN also mentioned other reasons that necessitated the postponement of the Pent Series, which included that hosting the series after the Netball World Cup in July will allow Namibia and the other participants to gain maximum ranking points.
Pushing the Pent Series closer to the Africa Championships, slated for October, means the series will also serve as preparation for Namibia.
In the meantime, the NN will also sort out the venue, as there was a call made by sports minister Erastus Uutoni to take the games to Katutura.
The Pent Series has in the past been played at the Patrick Iyambo Police College training courts. This is because of the lack of international-standard facilities in the country.
“It is our hope that with the support of the directorate of sport and possible sponsorships from other entities, we will be able to build an international-standard outdoor/indoor court at the Katutura Youth Complex - pending the finalisation of an MOU between the directorate of sport and Netball Namibia. This will also be in time for the new date,” said Samaria.
“The sponsor has supported the postponement, while allowing the coaches to develop a winning team, and to allow for better arrangements for the new date.”
LIMBA MUPETAMI
The announcement came on Thursday from Netball Namibia (NN), which said they want to give ample time to the newly appointed coaches of the national teams to prepare for the series.
The tournament is an annual event sponsored under a three-year agreement between the NN and Debmarine Namibia.
The series was supposed to see hosts Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as Malawi and Botswana, compete for top honours.
Namibia was to have entered two teams - the Desert Jewels national side and the Shadow Team.
“It will be unfair to expect the new coaching team to carry the same stream of success as Manuel Tjivera in such a short period of time, particularly in reference to Desert Jewels being the defending champs of this cup. Therefore, it is best to postpone the event to allow the coaches to prepare the team well,” said NN spokesperson Conny Samaria.
The coaches were appointed in April, after senior national team coach Tjivera's contract expired in December 2018. Samaria explained the appointment of the new coaches took a while, as the federation had to head-hunt for replacements for the entire senior team technical staff.
The NN also mentioned other reasons that necessitated the postponement of the Pent Series, which included that hosting the series after the Netball World Cup in July will allow Namibia and the other participants to gain maximum ranking points.
Pushing the Pent Series closer to the Africa Championships, slated for October, means the series will also serve as preparation for Namibia.
In the meantime, the NN will also sort out the venue, as there was a call made by sports minister Erastus Uutoni to take the games to Katutura.
The Pent Series has in the past been played at the Patrick Iyambo Police College training courts. This is because of the lack of international-standard facilities in the country.
“It is our hope that with the support of the directorate of sport and possible sponsorships from other entities, we will be able to build an international-standard outdoor/indoor court at the Katutura Youth Complex - pending the finalisation of an MOU between the directorate of sport and Netball Namibia. This will also be in time for the new date,” said Samaria.
“The sponsor has supported the postponement, while allowing the coaches to develop a winning team, and to allow for better arrangements for the new date.”
LIMBA MUPETAMI
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