President of African netball Cecilia Molokwane aims to impart knowledge on hosting tournaments in other countries
19th March 2024
By
President of African netball Cecilia Molokwane says it’s imperative to impart the knowledge of hosting tournaments to other nations across the continent.
This comes after Netball South Africa came to the rescue at the last minute, to host the regional Africa Under-21 World Cup qualifiers at the University of Pretoria.
NSA was granted a three-month window to ready itself for hosting the tournament.
Amidst resource challenges across Africa, the NSA has become a beacon of support for other nations.
Molokwane, remains steadfast in her mission to revolutionize netball across Africa.
''In a lot of the things I have realised as Africa President, is that we are blessed as South Africa, that's why I want to share with them.
''We must start to teach how to host international games, but we can only do that with resources,'' said Molokwane.
In her mission to rejuvenate netball across the continent, Molokwane aims to alter the perception of the sport in Africa, mirroring the successful transformation achieved by Netball South Africa in SA.
''You know where netball was when we took over, people now are starting to understand what netball is about.
''We know that the dominating sport in Africa is football, we need to change people's mindsets when it comes to sport in Africa,'' added Molokwane.
South Africa is making history by hosting a seven-team Under-21 regional tournament World Cup qualifiers at Tuks, marking a ground-breaking first.
Departing from the traditional method of selecting teams based solely on African netball rankings, they’ve introduced a tournament. This innovative approach aims to provide players with TV exposure and intense competitive matches.
''It is the first time the under 21s are treated this way, at the end of the day - it is about that African child who wants to represent their country at the world cup,'' she concluded.
Seven teams compete for the three coveted spots in the Gibraltar 2025 World Cup finals.
Molokwane sets the benchmark for netball standards observed at the youthful World Cup qualifiers thus far, considering the tournament a crucial platform for nurturing future national teams.
