Baobabs play their 1st NPL matches
The Limpopo Baobab netball team played their first matches of the Netball Premier League (NPL) at the University of Pretoria this weekend.
POLOKWANE – The Limpopo Baobab netball team played their first matches of the Netball Premier League (NPL) at the University of Pretoria this weekend.
The NPL is Africa’s first semi-professional netball league, and kicked off on Saturday. The final will take place in June.
This premier league incorporates 10 teams from all nine provinces in South Africa and will be played over five weeks.
All matches will be played at the University of Pretoria and will be broadcast live on SuperSport on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the competition.
Cecilia Molekwane, Limpopo’s Baobab netball team coach, said the team had been preparing for four weeks and she was confident that they would play in the finals and win the title.
“We have found the right combination and we have a well-balanced team that I believe will represent the province well in the league. Limpopo is highly underestimated by other provinces so we want to prove them wrong,” she said.
According to Molekwane, the team consisted of 15 players, but only 12 would be in the first team.
The team worked with biokineticist, Thato Mokgwadi, who said he had seen a huge improvement in the players.
“I use exercise to enhance performance and increase the speed of the players. I worked with the team for two weeks and I think no team will match our standard,” said Mokgwadi.
The Baobabs faced the Mpumalanga Sunbirds on Saturday, where they won 44-33, but unfortunately lost 60-47 to the Diamonds from the Northern Cape.
They will face Kingdom Stars from KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday, along with Southern Spring from the Western Cape.
