The Sunday Mail
Veronica Gwaze
AFTER bagging a bronze medal at the Africa Union Sports Council Region V Under-20 Youth Games in Botswana, Zimbabwe Under-21 national team coach Ropafadzo Mutsauki reckons his squad now possess the requisite skill-set to compete at the highest level.
Of particular interest to the Young Gems gaffer is the World Cup qualifiers that will be held in 2020.
The Young Gems finished off third, this time after Malawi and favorites South Africa who retained their title as the AUSC Region V netball champions.
“Despite having to settle for bronze again, this time the team performed very well and beyond even my expectation.
“Considering their ages and the amount of competition they had, I was pleasantly surprised.
“Champions South Africa and Malawi proved to be our biggest competitions but we kept the margins small and that is a plus in my books,” he said.
Mutsauki paid tribute to his defense and shooters who proved to be tough competitors throughout the entire tournament.
The gaffer however he said the mid court needs to find a way to up their game in terms of transition, fitness and endurance.
“While there are other areas of concern, the major worry was the midfield.
“They had the pace but unfortunately they got tired too quickly.
“Fitness and endurance are key aspects that need to be worked on,” he said.
“We had accurate shooters and very strong defense but endurance still was not so on point and a team without strong endurance cannot survive,” he said.
The coach said had the young Gems spent more time in camp, maybe these areas could have been identified and worked on before the games.
“Only three players had adequate camping time and these are the fortunate ones that spent some time with the seniors who took part in the Diamond Challenge.
“Despite the overall team having performed well, the competition that these few were subjected to in camp worked to their advantage,” said the coach.
