GEMS MAKE PROGRESS
told H-Metro Sport.
“The girls are responding to the road we are leading them to. So far so good. They are actually doing what we want them to do.”
The Gems last participated in a regional tournament in October 2019 during the Africa Netball Championships that saw South Africa being crowned champions.
The Africa Netball Championships came soon after their maiden World Cup appearance were they finished a remarkable eighth.
And as if that was only enough, the local league has also been on halt due to the outbreak and waves of Covid-19 cases in the country.
The League was briefly played last year and later suspended just after three rounds of action.
“I’m so happy with the progress. These players were idle for quite a long time so what they have achieved so far, the technical team is so happy.
“Of course, I’m worried about the fitness (of the players) but we don’t have as much time as we could have wanted but we are working with what we have.
“When the tournaments start they are going to be fit enough to play both.
“We are working on combination and fitness and if I can comment on that, things are shaping well.”
The Gems have six new players.
These includes Lynette Tanhira and Priscila Ndlovu — both from Platinum — Nobukhosi Ndlovu, Sinetemba Ncube and Nokuthula Mbano — all from Goldreef — and Beatrice Busu from ZDF.
“It takes some time for players to gel but these players know each other from different leagues so I don’t see any problem with them gelling in the next week. We are going to get there.”
The Gems will open their Pent Series campaign with an encounter against Malawi Queens followed by the Divas of Kenya.
They will play Uganda She Cranes on November 3 before clashing with the host the following day.
They will close the campaign with a face off with Zambia on November 5.
Zimbabwe has participated in the previous Pent Series events.
They were the champions in the inaugural tournament in 2017 before surrendering their title the following year as they settled for a silver medal.