By Chris Totobela
Top netballers from Makhanda, Gqeberha and Kenton-on-Sea battled it out on the Rhodes University netball courts at the weekend in a bid to gain much-needed match practice.
The Rhodes netball team hosted the festival with two women’s teams and one men’s side representing the local university alongside other Makhanda competitors such as Ravens, Celotape, Juventus, Falcons and East Cape Midlands College.
Golden Queens, SABC and Zim Lillies, all from Gqeberha, also took part, while Sunshine Coast showed up for Kenton-on-Sea.
In one of the exciting games, Sunshine Coast dismantled Gqeberha’s Golden Queens by 45 goals to 10.
In the Sunshine Coast team was a young up-and-coming Makhanda netball star, Anesipho Tinise, who has made two Sarah Baartman’s district teams and will be going for provincial trials in due course.
Tinise was over the moon when she spoke to Grocott’s Mail after the game. “I think this is a good initiative by the Rhodes University netball team and something that we can also learn from. I have enjoyed myself here and these games will help me in preparation for my upcoming trips and I wish that they could do more of these tournaments as they help us grow as netballer,” she said.
Organisers of the festival have been applauded for the initiative.
