The Sunday Mail
ZDF QUEENS skipper Rejoice Dingizela has said the deaths of coach Faresi John and stalwart Besta Harrison inside three months have left the former Netball Super League champions shaken.
The victorious Zimbabwe netball team
John (44), a long-serving coach who led the side to their maiden league triumph in 2013, succumbed to kidney failure last month.
Her death came just three months after Harrison’s demise.
At the start of the season, ZDF had vowed to win the league title for Harrison but with their coach also passing on, Dingizela said her lieutenants were now rattled.
The Queens are eight points adrift of log leaders Nehanda and their chances of landing the title are getting slimmer with each passing round of matches.
“We are trying hard to comfort each other, but it’s not that easy,” said Dingizela. “We have to accept it because that’s what happened, but moving on is still a challenge. We had vowed to win the league for Besta, but I must admit with these recent developments it’s now very tough for us.
“If we were not yet half way into the season we would have asked for a break as a team, because we lost Besta in March and a few months later our coach passes on too, it’s hard for us.”
ZDF’s new head coach Moleen Mafusire is also traumatised.
“There is nothing we can do now, but it’s really tough for me especially because Faresi was like a sister.
I was affected a lot, but when God has decided there is nothing we can do about it. Up to now I am still to come to terms with it,” she said.
