Kansas City Netball Club dished out a sterling performance at the Western Cape Netball Club Championships in the Oververg at the weekend, beating Malmsbury 23-14 in the final to bring the title home.
Leading up to the Western Cape Netball Club Championships, Kansas City Netball Club’s preparations weren’t quite what they had hoped for – mostly due to the lack of available training facilities.
But, as the saying goes, where there’s a will…and they definitely had the will, so they found a way.
The Cape Town Netball Federations A-Division champions participated in a social league in Pinelands as a training outlet, to improve fitness levels and to enhance their skills set.
“We are also fortunate that Mitchells Plain Netball Union has a large number of registered Clubs, so this has maximised our game time,” explains Kansas City A1 Coach Nazeem Dulvie.
Those arrangements were enough to arm Kansas City with the ammunition to dish out sterling performances at the provincial championships in Hermanus at the weekend, beating Malmsbury 23-14 in the final to bring the title home.
It was a team effort.
“The ladies worked extremely hard for the victory, and it was a holistic team effort from players, management and supporting staff,” Dulvie notes. “They really embodied our Club motto: ‘Striving for Excellence’. It’s a proud moment for our club, the MPNU and for the CTNF.”
For Dulvie, the greatest challenge for the team management following a championship victory is to keep the players in a ‘hunter, not hunted’ mind-set. “We want to ensure that the players do not carry added pressure and expectation as defending champions, but rather that they are pursuing a new challenge.”
After taking some time to celebrate their accomplishment, the team will meet to talk about how they will deal with new expectations.
“Instead of focusing on repeating, the emphasis will be on refocusing and regrouping for a new chase,” Dulvie says. “We will review our weaknesses and strengths to work on closing the gap between our current and desired performance. And we will maintain a consistent approach on continuous improvement, recognition and expansion of our strengths.”
Still, their triumph at the provincial champs means a lot – not only for the club, but for the community of Mitchells Plain, and the entire Cape Town region.
“Our victory was an amalgamation of youth and experience, perseverance and the desire to succeed. We hope to have inspired players in the Mitchells Plain Netball Union and the greater sub-districts in Cape Town Netball Federation to aspire to greater heights.”
Cape Town fans will have an opportunity to watch the Western Cape Champs in the MPNU district Knockout Competition this week, before turning their focus to the Twizza Netball Club Championships early next year.
Meanwhile, Cape Town’s other two teams, Dynamites of Khayelitsha and Hurricanes of Langa, finished as runners up at the provincial championships.
Edited by Nicklaus Kruger
