She Cranes pick plenty of positives from England Tour
She Cranes Goal Defender Lillian Ajio tries to stop an England Roses player during the recent Test Series in London last year. Ajio is concerned with the absence of Halima, who stayed in England. COURTESY PHOTO
KAMPALA. The She Cranes - Uganda’s national netball team - has in the past few years proved a force to reckon with across the continent.
The two-time African champion as well as seventh-ranked at world netball log defeated the Bajan Gems - the Barbados national netball team - in March this year in a friendly game that ended in 46-28 as the sides were preparing for Commonwealth Games in April.
However last week, She Cranes overwhelming ambition was challenged by the England Roses when the two teams engaged in a three match Netball Test Series.
The series also served as ranking games but Uganda lost all three matches 50-46, 65-53 and 66-37.
“It did not go as we wanted but there were plenty of positives to pick,” said Vincent Kiwanuka, the She Cranes head coach. “There was hope to improve after the first game where we had a slight margin of four goals, however things turned from bad to worse in the consequent games.”
He adds that this loss is a wake-up call to his team and that they must improve to maintain the standards they have always exhibited especially when Uganda won World University Netball Champions as well as the African title.
It is from the university team and the winning team at the African Netball Championships that Kiwanuka selected the 15 players for the netball series.
The She Cranes will again meet the England Roses next year at the Netball World Cup in Liverpool.
