WITH their agonising defeat in the 2015 Brutal Fruit Netball Cup promotion match now a distant memory, the Kingdom Stars have been hard at work preparing for their assault on the larger, more competitive 2016 edition which gets underway with an opening clash against the Eastern Cape Aloes this weekend.

The team has been hard at work at their base at Prime Human Performance Institute and, through their involvement in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Sport and Recreation backed Elite Athlete Development Programme, the team is in the right space going into the third edition of the tournament.

The Kingdom Stars were voted the fittest team at the 2015 edition of the tournament and will be looking to continue that level of preparation and with some match-winners amongst them, they hope to challenge even some of the stronger teams in this year’s tournament.

“Everything has gone according to plan for us in the build-up to our opening match,” coach Marchelle Maroun said. “We are probably going into this game as prepared as we will ever be and the girls are really excited to get the competition underway.”

“Everyone got a short break after the tournament last year but they have been working really hard with the team since coming then and are extremely grateful for the opportunity that they have received to continue as part of the EADP,” he said.