Limpopo Baobabs’ Emily Mathosa is an ambitious coach. She reckons her side is capable of playing in the promotion/relegation match at the end of the Telkom Netball League season this year.
Last season the Baobabs missed a podium finish by just one goal to the Western Cape Tornados and were denied the bronze medal. Mathosa believes the team has improved over the years and will be able to pull out brilliant performances which will not only see them reach the Division Two final, but also qualify for the promotion match.
“I am hoping we will play the relegation match this year but it will come with the work that will be put on court. With the games that are coming, they are not going to be easy but we need to run away with it and make sure that we give a good fight there. I didn’t think my team was the underdogs of the B division because people always looked down on the Baobabs. Whenever they see us they say ‘ah it’s a walkover’, but I really feel the girls have stepped up in the previous season even though we had a little bit of hiccups here and there. I believe now teams are a little bit scared of us because they could see what we can put on the court,” says Mathosa.
She reckons the team is no longer as predictable and it will be a lot harder for their opponents to plan for their demise this season.
“We actually have more variety of players in the team now, it is easier to change the bench and not play the same people because if you play the same people, they (opponents) can plan around those same players. I believe right now, it is not easy for other coaches to plan around my team because I have a different group of girls now,” she says.
FOURTH SO FAR
After the first round of matches, the Baobabs are sitting in fourth position having won two of their three matches in their home ground at the Ngoako Ramatlhodi Sports Complex in Polokwane. The team lies behind the Western Cape Tornados, who lead the section. The Northern Cape Diamonds are second with last year’s finalists Mpumalanga Sunbirds above the Baobabs with five points from three matches. Now that the league is underway, Mathosa says that she is confident her side will come back better when the league resumes at Pretoria’s Heartfelt Arena from 2 June to 1 July.
“I think in the first game there were a bit of nerves with the girls and we just lost that game by one. But in the other two games that we played, we actually showed up. I really believe the girls have now settled and have found each other. They are more focused and they are focused on themselves because we need to focus on our own wars if we want to win,” she says.
Mathosa has welcomed the expansion of the TNL. The Limpopo province now has two teams competing in the league with the introduction of the Limpopo Lilies. She says the Limpopo sides have a sisterhood kind of relationship which may later be beneficial for both. The competition has grown from 10 teams to 15 since it was launched in 2014. Five provinces have two teams in the competition.
“I think it shows that netball is growing. For Netball SA to bring on the two teams shows that other districts and provinces have more players who can come into the system and play. Gauteng always had two teams in the tournament and Limpopo now has the Lilies and the Free State has the Sonoblomo, it shows netball is growing. I believe it is giving the younger ones a chance to work hard and want to be in the competition. It shows that there is progress and improvement in our sport. The Baobabs are the seniors to those young ones, coming in as inexperienced players, we need to show them that it is doable. We had been lagging behind in the past years and now we are able to make the top four of the division and even play in the semifinals,” she says.
Although the Lilies and the Sonoblomo are new in the competition, Mathosa says it would be silly for the teams in Division Two to underestimate them even though neither of the two have won a single match in the opening power week of the competition.
“I think people are looking down on the new teams but I believe those girls have a lot of potential. We don’t know what they will bring on the court because this is their first season of TNL. I believe that there was a little bit of nerves but when they come back in the second leg they will pull up very strongly. They just need to focus on their game and put up a good fight. Other than that, I believe they are good players and they will learn from the seniors in the other teams,” she says.