Chipandu: The unsung heroine of Zim netball
ZIMBABWE joins the rest of the world today in commemorating International Women’s Day, reflecting on challenges being faced by women and progress made in the advancement of females in pursuit of gender equality.
Running under the banner “Invest in women: Accelerate progress”, the theme speaks to the need to advance women’s empowerment across all spaces.
While countless women have proved to be leading forces in advancing their influence across spaces, Zimbabwe Netball Association president Leticia Chipandu stands out.
The netball granny has led the senior national team to the Netball World Cup twice consecutively with Liverpool (2019) being their maiden appearance, followed by South Africa last year.
She also led the junior national team to their first Netball World Youth Cup in Botswana in 2017.
Currently the Young Gems, under the mentorship of Tapiwa Chirenda, are camped in Harare in preparation for the 2025 Netball World Youth Cup Qualifiers scheduled for Pretoria, South Africa between March 17-24.
The youngsters will be hoping to grab one of the four slots to qualify for the global showcase to be held in Gibraltar’s Tercentenary Sports Hall and Europa Sports Park from September 19 to 28, next year.
And if they make it, Chipandu will be setting a record as the president who led Zimbabwean netball to World Cup, four times.
“It’s no easy feat, the journey has never been easy but I am happy that despite all the challenges we made it possible,” said Chipandu.
“Financial challenges have always been there, netball has largely been overlooked by the corporate world so we had one or two coming in here and there, and the Government has often stood with us too.
“I am happy we now have a committed friend Nedbank as well. Since their coming, organising and participation at such tournaments has been made easy for us . . . this is when you look back and smile.”
The steadfast administrator who was elected into office more than a decade ago has navigated the rough terrain of leadership with both tact and motherly bravado.
Through the journey, countless splinter leagues have also emerged, threatening the existence of the sport.
At some point, the netball was house divided, playing out like a movie as the nation watched, and Chipandu was cast as the enemy. Precisely, the sport ran the threat of dropping the ball on the eve of its finest hour, when the Gems were about to make their maiden trip to the Netball World Cup in Liverpool, England in 2019.
Petty politics seemed to be the talk of the day as the feud between ZINA and the then Rainbow Amateur Netball League looked to be more than just a sideshow.
Clubs jumped ship from the ZINA-run super league to join the Glow-funded RANL.
RANL remained an amateur league with some registration impasse running for years.
However, in a move meant to pave the way for peace and development of Netball, RANL was eventually registered last year.
This saw the league re-brand to Rainbow Netball League.
And for the first time since the coming of RANL, Chipandu graced their glamorous awards night earlier in Harare in January 2024, much to the astonishment of many.
“It is netball and the girl child who have to win in the end so whatever decision we had to reach was meant for the good of the game,” she said.
“Over the years, we never stopped calling the RANL players for national duty, and even of late I think people can see that we are also considering some of their coaches.
“We have soldered on over the years and we are happy that indeed the girl child is winning.”
Chipandu has unfortunately taken the brunt of the blame in most challenges rocking netball with words like ego, self-interest, and selfish being used to describe her actions or lack of.
“Sadly, she (Chipandu) is misunderstood by many, they throw and twist the words she says back to her face.
“While everyone has their weakness, it must be acknowledged that she too has hers but let us also learn to acknowledge the job she has done,” said a RANL administrator who refused to be named.
“Despite sponsorship woes, she has always gone out of her way — sometimes digging into her own pockets — just to put the Gems in the best possible situation.
“The issue between ZINA and RANL was a constitutional matter, not one of personal characters and it was solved, all in good time. “Her legacy will be etched in stone with a good showing.