Fungai Muderere
THE fifth Premier Netball League (PNL) bubble that is set to mark the mid season break will be played at Bulawayo’s White City Stadium on Saturday amid revelations that all 20 league teams are going to take part.
The bubble is meant to further physically sharpen the country’s netball players as the majority of them make up the senior national team, The Gems, who are scheduled to feature in the Vitality Netball World Cup 2023.
The World Cup tournament will be held from 28 July to 6 August at the International Convention Centre in Cape Town, South Africa.
PNL secretary general Liberty Mhizha said they have had four similar engagements in Beitbridge, Gweru, Mutare and Harare.
He said the 20 teams to converge on Bulawayo would engage each other in a fixture format that will make sure each club plays a maximum of three games in this one-day event.
“This is a Premier Netball League action that is played in a bubble format after every fortnight. This will be bubble number five which will bring us to half of the season break. These bubbles are very important to us as they have given us a platform to test how physically strong are our players who make up 70 percent of the senior national team that is set to play in the forthcoming World Cup,” said Mhizha.
He added: “It is going to be a fully packed day and we are expecting to have a total of 30 games to be played between 7am and 5pm. By the end of the day, we would expect each club to have played two to three games.”
In April, Zimbabwe Netball Association (Zina) had a sponsorship agreement their sponsorship agreement with Nedbank Zimbabwe the financial institution unveil US$50k sponsorship package for the Gems team ahead of their participation at the global tournament.
The sponsorship package which was unveiled at Harare’s Stodart Netball Complex will cater for the team’s playing kit, travel insurance and other expenses they will incur at the World Cup.
Nedbank also extended a similar sponsorship package for the country’s elite league Premier Netball League (PNL) which is the major feeder to the national team.
The financial institution has over the last few years emerged a big supporter of Zimbabwean sport through their sponsorship for local rugby and cycling among codes.
Bubble Fixtures
Court One
City Angels vs Harare District, Greenfuel vs Redwing, BB vs FB, Rhinos vs C. Angels, GF vs Zupco, ZDF vs Ngezi, Platinum Queens vs Expendables,, BB vs FZ, FZ vs Mutare City, Rhinos vs Redwing, Ngezi vs Stormers, Ngezi vs Mvurwi
Court 2
GreenFuel vs FB, City Angels vs F. ZJC, Mvurwi vs Redwing, FZ vs Harare District, Expendables vs Mvurwi, FB vs HD, Zupco vs Mvurwi, Beitbridge Stars vs Mvurwi, FB vs Mutare City, BB vs Harare City, Plat vs F. ZJC
Court 3
FB vs Zupco, Harare District D vs Waterfalls, Plat vs C. Angels, Mutare City vs Stormers, Platinum Queens vs Harare City, Mutare City vs Mvurwi, GreenFuel vs Mutare City, Ngezi vs Harare City,ZDF vs C. Angels, C. Angels vs Mutare City.
