Botswana hosts netball tri-nations tourney

Staff Writer | Wednesday April 20, 2011 00:00

 

The tournament is a build-up to the World Netball Championships (WNC) in Singapore in July. The tri-nations tournament is sanctioned by the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA). The federation has already appointed international umpires to officiate at the event that will feature Botswana, Singapore and South Africa.

The competition will allow local fans to see their team play on home ground against the two countries they are pitted against in the initial stages of the WNC. 'It will offer the team a chance to prepare against these teams and this offers us a rare and much-needed opportunity to gauge our strength and better focus for the rest of the preparations, post the tournament,' BONA said in a statement.

'We are intending to secure a wooden spring board from South Africa which is a requirement for international games and this further provides Batswana with an opportunity to watch a true international netball game. The wooden floor we are bringing is of the same international standard as one that will be used at the world games.'

BONA said that in the past, it faced challenges with players coming across such surfaces for the first time at world competitions. This time round, the Botswana team gets an opportunity to play on the surface ahead of the world event.

The netball body has urged local fans to rally behind the team to give it a morale boost ahead of the World Netball Championships.