Senior Netball teams go down fighting
Calistus Kolantsho | Tuesday December 16, 2025 09:12
During the competition, South Africa proved that they are a powerhouse as they claimed back to back the Africa Netball Cup titles, following a 56-34 victory of Uganda in the women’s final. Zimbabwe beat Malawi 48-44 for a third place finish.
Botswana women's team finished in position six after losing 50-40 to Kenya during playoffs. They found the going tough as they were walloped 67-31 by South Africa and managed to grab a 55-35 victory against Tanzania.
Women’s team coach, Martha Mosoahle-Samm, told SportMonitor that her expectation was a top five finish.
“The team performed well in some games and not so well in others. Of course it was nice to pull up a win against Tanzania,” she said.
“It is always a great feeling for a coach when a team wins. Moving forward, I guess the team will take from the foundation that I laid and move forward.”
Mosoahle-Samm said a lot still needs to be done, an example being the physical and mental strength of players to get to another level.
She added there is need for more international matches in order for the team to grow.
The coach mentioned that anything is possible with added preparations and international experience.
The men’s team also had a tough competition, after they were beaten 48-41 by Zimbabwe, lost by a single goal to Uganda with a full time score of 40-39 and also fell 58-38 to South Africa.
Botswana finished in position six while Thuto Bogatsu won the men’s best mid-court award of the tournament.
Men’s head coach, Neo Dema, said it was challenging and exciting experience coaching men’s team, in that they have a different style of play compared to women’s play, they depend mostly on strength and power.
“The team did not perform according to my expectations in some of the games. We lacked mental strength, and we had too many unforced errors,” Dema said when reacting to the team’s performance.
“However, there were pockets of excellence here and there. Way forward is not to give up and stick to the basics. We just have to re-group and scout other players especially those with height.”
Meanwhile, Botswana Netball Association (BONA) president, Mpopi Moatlhodi admitted it was a challenging journey preparing and finally travelling to Malawi by road.
She said her feeling now is that of a deep sense of relief and a great achievement to have managed to take two teams to the Africa Netball Cup 2025.
“This is mainly because failure to come was going to have negative consequences for both players and Botswana Netball.
“I am grateful that we managed to ultimately and would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who made it is possible and supported us through this journey,” she said.
Moatlhodi added the team needs more exposure to international competitions. She noted that they could have benefited a lot from international friendly games but could not manage to do without sponsorship.
“The journey continues. We need to start preparing for the World Netball Cup qualifiers which will be held in Kenya in September 2026. We need to secure sponsorship for the team and start preparing as early as possible.
“We are still appealing to potential sponsors and partners to join hands with us,” she said.