She Cranes braced for Zimbabwe in Africa opener

Uganda’s national netball team - She Cranes face off with Zimbabwe this morning in Cape Town, South Africa in the opening game of the 2019 Africa Netball Championship.

The She cranes arrived in Cape Town on Tuesday morning and the 11 players have acclimatised with a handful of sessions. One more player Fauzia Nakibule arrived late on Thursday morning alongside Uganda Netball Federation (UNF) president Susan Anek. Uganda is seeded top in Group B followed by Zimbabwe, Kenya and Tanzania respectively.

But following Tanzania’s failure to report for the tournament, the group remains with only three teams.

“We expect some changes in the fixture but that will not affect our strategy,” said coach Rashid Mubiru.

Mubiru who travelled with a relatively young team believes this championship will help him build a team for the future besides competing with those that brought senior players.

“We want to groom these girls and encourage them to believe in themselves like we did to those who have since left the team,” he added.

Eight members of the team are university student and only four are non students. However Mubiru is confident his girls can stun their rivals and win the premier African showpiece.