The chosen ones

Success after hard process
The NSSU netball teams have been chosen and are ready to head to South Africa to represent the country.
Jeanette Diergaardt
Jeanette Diergaardt

After a difficult, hot and tiring day of netball, the under-12, -13, -15, and -17 Namibian School Sports Union (NSSU) teams were picked on Saturday 11 June 2022.

The best netball girls from the 14 regions in the country battled it out on the netball field on Saturday. Games started early at 08:00 and the last ended in the late afternoon. The under-15 and under-17 teams were the most difficult to choose. With talent coming from far and wide, the under-17 age group had their final matches last for more than five rounds, which saw the girls switching positions back and forth, before the final team was chosen.

The under-12, -13, and -15 are scheduled to head to the All-Ages competition in South Africa from 26 to 29 June 2022 in Boksburg, whereas the under-17s will head to the Telkom Tournament from 10-15 July in Witbank. “We believe our children will put up a good competition,” said Ina Fransman, who is a part of the national committee of netball at the NSSU.

Players from as far as Oshikoto had the opportunity to showcase their talent. With tears in her eyes, Hileni Thomas from Uukele Secondary School expressed her joy in making it into the under-17 team. “I wanted to give up, but my coach encouraged me,” Thomas said. She gave praise to God for making it onto the team. After the long process of visits to schools and competitions, Pricilla Haufiku, the netball convener for the Oshikoto regional team, said “miracles can happen,” before the teams were chosen.