Capital to host opening netball tourney

Netball fans should be salivating at the thought of this weekend’s Central Netball Zone (CNZ) opening tournament, which is taking place at the Khomasdal sport grounds tomorrow from 08:00. These games will be an exciting snapshot of what we can expect in the season ahead. Teams and coaches will be using this opportunity to fine-tune their line-ups for the league, which will be played the following weekend. This form of competition allows for experimentation but also gives the coaches a great insight into their preparation programmes so far, the strengths and weaknesses of their opposition and also the umpiring interpretations implemented by the Central Netball Zone Umpiring Panel. Additionally, it will also be terrific to see how the new recruits perform for their respective clubs. From this weekend the coaches will have one week to continue their specific preparation stage ahead of the 2014 league season. This will give them time for the further tactical and technical work required to give them a chance of victory in the first round of matches. It is going to be fascinating to watch, as one of the closest years of competition in CNZ history is being predicted. The tournament is open to any other teams interested in supporting netball because it is an open tournament. Some of the netball teams that are likely to take part in the tournament are Central Netball Zone League stalwarts like United, Civics, Black Africa, Unam, Tigers and the new girls on the block, the Vixens.