Desert Jewels poised for UAE Netball Cup
Blended with experience and young talent, Namibia’s Desert Jewels head coach, Julene Meyer, says the senior national side is super fit and dedicated to lifting trophy at the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Netball Cup 2025 in Dubai.
The Desert Jewels alongside Kenya are the two African nations set to compete against some of the world’s top netball nations.
The senior national netball team paid a courtesy call to the Namibia Sports Commission head office for an official sending off by the commission’s chief administrator, Freddy Mwiya, yesterday.
The much-focused netball side departs for Dubai tomorrow, and will have a light training session on Saturday before taking on Kenya in their opening match on Sunday evening.
Speaking to Desert FM last week, Meyer said they kicked off with preparation last week Wednesday and the players are doing very well.
“The girls are working very hard and are looking very good. We are extremely excited for the opportunity. We will go up against Singapore, the Republic of Ireland, the United States (US), UAE and Kenya.
“Those are five of the world’s top ranking nations. I am expecting us to do very well. We have got a fantastic bunch of new players and we will introduce four of our national under 21 players.
“They will debut in Dubai. This time we are not just looking to win the tournament but I am actually looking to take some of those young players and give them the exposure.”
She said throwing them (young players) into the deep end so they can swim will ready them for bigger competitions.
“That is why we are taking such a strong blend of exposure and youth so that we can prepare them for the bigger stage,” Meyer stressed.
She said they initially called 18 talented players in January to give them a four-month lead into the training camp. “They have worked very hard and we worked with the MTC NN Premier League coaches and shared with them the national training programme.”
She said players are better conditioned and better prepared and that this time around they will take the strongest best conditioned players.
“We have a very strong team that we are taking and we are excited and looking forward to the UAE netball cup. It is going to be incredibly important and currently we are a point away from entering into the top 15 world ranking.
“If we win this tournament, I am hoping that we break into the top 15. We have another participation scheduled later in November, and hopefully breakthrough into the top 12 world ranking, meaning the team will qualify for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland next year.” she said.
Following the official opening ceremony on Sunday, host UAE will have their opening match against the US, followed by a match between Ireland and Singapore with the final match on Sunday featuring the Desert Jewels against Kenya.
On Monday, the Desert Jewels will take on the host nation UAE, and play Singapore on Tuesday.
They later in the tournament play Ireland, and in their final encounter take on the US.
The tournament format will see the competing team completing a round robin play. At the conclusion of the round robin, teams will be ranked according to the points.
The post Desert Jewels poised for UAE Netball Cup appeared first on The Namibian.
