Baobab Deaf Netball Team sets the tone

POLOKWANE – Their coach, Gladys Malatji, said this is the start of great achievements for the team.

“We have been practising a lot. As a coach I had challenges with the transportation of my players but now I am so happy that after all the effort, we have played so well and developed so much. I think for next year’s tournament we will be even better. One of the problems we face as a team is that we only practice once a month because players come from different places. As a coach this means we have achieved on a high level because we played against teams with lots of experience and practice. We are going to prepare for the next tournament which will be played next year,” said Malatji.

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Limpopo Deaf Netball Association Chairperson, Resborn Nkuna, said the tournament went well.

“This is our first tournament and I feel elated at its success. The tournament went well and as the Chairperson, I think we need to partner with other federations, municipality, government and the private sector because we need support. We have been playing without water and food and I will try my best to find support for this tournament. If we can find support, I am confident the tournament will be even more exciting next year,” said Nkuna.

Deaf Netball South Africa Limpopo Provincial Director, Patricia Kgamane, said this was the first deaf netball tournament in Limpopo. “The players were good and if they keep practicing, this tournament will develop. We plan to make it an annual tournament during Women’s Month with the aim of empowering other women in the sense of health and exercise but we need support from government to make it happen. We plan to host the biggest event next year and we want to include the hearing people as well, not limiting it to people with hearing impairments, so we can develop ourselves to become one team,” said Kgamane.

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