Following a good start in the first round of the Under 21 Youth Development League held on the 19th October 2024 in Orapa, Maun Heroes are confident of winning the next rounds of the league games and emerge victorious as they have the most experienced and talented team.
Maun Heroes Netball Club started its first round games of the league with an impressive performance accumulating a total of six points after winning all the three games they played. From the three games they have played, Maun Heroes walloped Moepong Queens 65-15, they have also won 61-13 against Thunderbolts and 73-5 against Boteti Giants.
Thunderbolts finished second position with four points followed by Moepong on position three with two points while Boteti finished on the fourth position without a point. As it currently stands, Maun Heroes are expected to play their second round games this weekend in Orapa where they will again be facing Thunderbolts, Boteti River Giants and Moepong Queens.
In an interview, the club’s Marketing and Public Relations Officer Mokeresete Mokeresete told Times Sport that the club has made up its mind that they will emerge champions of the league and bring the trophy to Maun. Mokeresete noted that they have an experienced and talented team consisting of players that played at different local netball leagues including SKL Camps BONA Fast 5 League and Lucara Netball League.
Mokeresete had also previously indicated that they went through pre-season training with the girls from August and an advantage to them is that six of their players were part of the senior team which competed in the Lucara Netball League and they bring a wealth of experience to the U21 team. He had expressed they have identified a number of areas they need to work on as they build in progress and they are happy on how the girls are currently responding.
He stated that for now there is more work to be done and they hope to have corrected their shortfalls by the time of the top eight. According to Mokeresete, their biggest challenge is that eight of their players are sitting for their BGCSE and that is a big concern, as they are unable to attend training and some are unable to go for the games.
“There is a lot that we need to do to bring different stakeholders on board as most of the people are still not aware of this team and the existence of main stream netball in North West and Maun in particular. However, we appreciate the support we get from a number of people and we are appealing for more, both financially and in kind,” he said.
Meanwhile, the 2024 Under 21 Youth Development League is facilitated by the Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) who granted the Botswana Netball Association (BONA) a Club Development Grant of P572, 400 for the 2024/2025 Financial Year to support the development of netball across the nation. The league will features 18 teams divided into four regional brackets.
The bracket A hosted by Orapa consists of Moepo, Thunderbolts, Maun Heroes and Boteti while the bracket B which will be hosted by Palapye features Tasc, Nico United, Morupule, Uprising Stars and Tafic. Jwaneng Town will host Police, BDF Cats, Prisons and Jwaneng in Bracket C while Gaborone will host Vipers, Notwane, UB Crystals, Thamaga Jaspers and CSE Mogoditshane under Bracket D.
