eBusiness Weekly
Chipo Sabeta recently in LIVERPOOL England
Sport, generally, is all about competition.
But sometimes it becomes less so because nature can conspire to favour one team over another; one individual over the other.
It is now well known that special genetic anomalies can give a small contingent of athletes’ significant and undeniable advantage.
Memorable in the minds of many Zimbabwean netball supporters are images of that Sri Lankan goal shooter Tharjini Sivalingam, who literally stood head and shoulders over our defenders in the opening game of the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup.
The 40-year-old tallest netballer in the world almost never misses.
She is 2,06m tall and that height has also earned her the title of tallest netballer on the planet.
She was immense and untouchable . . . but the Gems won that match 79-49, yet they were newcomers at the tournament.
For Sivalingam, her height is everything and for Sri Lanka, Sivalingam is everything.
In their opening World Cup match, she scored a phenomenal 44 of 45 shots attempted.
Her fellow goal attack did not even try her luck until the second half.
So should these “super athletes” be banned, or is there a way of getting around them? Is there anything wrong being born the way you are?
Some would say yes to the last question.
Earlier this year, South African sprinter Castor Semenya was barred from international competition due to elevated levels of testosterone.
It seems a bit extreme, and as the Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka game highlighted, banning these “super athletes” can be really unnecessary.
Nevertheless, height is a clear advantage in the sport of netball, and our scouters can learn a thing or two from other top teams that performed in this World Cup.
Despite a sterling show by Zimbabwean defenders and goalkeepers Felisitus Kwangwa, Rudo Kurume, Sharleen Makusha and Adelaide Muskwe, height became an important factor the Gems lacked.
Kwangwa starred for the Gems with 44 deflections (tournament high), 18 intercepts (6th overall), 119 centre-pass receives (6th overall), 10 rebounds (12th overall) and won player of the tournament twice but height limited potential against lanky goal shooters from countries like Australia, New Zealand among others.
Zimbabwe Netball Association president Letitia Chipandu, says they will embark on a recruitment drive that primarily stemmed from a lack of height within the current squad, something the team struggled with at the Vitality World Cup.
“In netball height is a huge factor. Nearly all other teams had tall plus players, at least one or two which they used as their trump card. Tall goal shooters and tall goal keepers are much more a part of the scene,” she said.
“So it was one of our goals to get tall players and I understand that we have two or three tall players and so we decided that we were going for it. We might need to reshuffle positions for some of our players to adjust to the defensive positions. The process require lots of effort and work, how to use my height to an advantage but also how to move on the run, not just stand there and hold all the time” she said
Coach Lloyd Makunde admitted that the game of netball is changing and they wanted to remain competitive.
“It’s a fact that we have to go for height. It’s time for us to scout for big and tall players for all departments. We are here to learn and we now know what to expect next time. To remain competitive at that level we really needs to keep fostering and getting those tall girls in, and making them feel good about themselves.
“If you are not very skilled at playing netball, height is a great advantage. But even though you are short, but skilled as well then that is good because some short players can run really fast and that’s really good for the game or the position (C, WA) since you have to run around and get the ball back,” he said.
