Ezibeleni’s Eagles Netball Club are the champions of Chris Hani District, after beating Grootfontein Netball Club of Middelburg 16-8 in the final of this year’s Twizza Netball Club District Championships, at the Dumpy Adams Sports Complex in Komani, this past weekend.
Eagles walked away with the prize money of R2 500, while Grootfontein received R1 500. The two teams will represent the Chris Hani District in this year’s Twizza Netball Club Provincial Championships that will be held in East London next month.
The team from Ezibeleni, Eagles were beaten in the semi-finals last year, while Grootfontein were taking part in the district play-offs for the first time. The two teams will be taking on some of the best sides in the Eastern Cape in July.
In the third- and fourth-place play-offs, last year’s Chris Hani District champions, Debera of Engcobo, walked away with R1 000, as they beat Jaguars from Elliot 19-6, to finish in the third place.
This means the Chris Hani District will be represented by new teams in the provincial championships, after Inkwenkwezi (Komani), who finished second last year, could not even get out of the group stages in Komani.
Eagles’ head coach, Wandisa Madolo, was over the moon after her team won the tournament and praised the whole team for their work.
“As a team, we are very proud of what we have achieved in this tournament, I think we have done very well. We played against the best teams in the region and matched them pound for pound.
“I think the team, especially the players, should be very proud of themselves for this performance.
“We are grateful to the entire coaching team for doing such great work. We are a better team now. Of course, we want to do even better in the provincial championships,” said delighted Madolo.
Tournament coordinator, Nonkosi Mba, was pleased with how the tournament went and said they were confident that the two teams would represent the district well.
“They maintained a good standard, especially the final. Both teams showed character. They will be on par with other teams,” she said.