Mangole shines in defeat

MOSAH MOKGANEDI
Correspondent | Tuesday February 26, 2008 00:00

 

The Mochudi -born player has a big heart and her aggression has always worked for her side. She has the qualities of a netballer and her level of discipline is unmatched. She is a humble player who always leads by example.

She may not have the height needed for a netball player but her intelligence has caused many opponents a nightmare.
After receiving the player of the tournament award last weekend, Mangole expressed happiness and said she has reaped the results of her hard work.

She said the secret of her success was hard training and following the instructions of the coach. The player first won the award at Kgamanyane Community Junior Secondary School. Meanwhile, Violet Moabi of TASC won the best shooter award while Gagotheko Tshelametsi of Cats was crowned best mid-court player.

Cats beat TASC in a very tense game that could have gone either way. The game went to extra time with scores tied at 37-37. Cats seemed to have learnt a lesson from their loss to TASC in the Motor Centre Cup final a fortnight ago and started the duel with urgency. Cats will keep the trophy for good as Debswana was sponsoring the tournament for the last time.

TASC coach Joseph Webb said the game was good and they have learnt some lessons. He said they have realised that they need to up their training when faced with an opponent of Cats' calibre. He added that the tournament has improved in the past year in terms of organisation and the level of play.

He encouraged more companies to sponsor netball so that they can have many competitions.
Cats' Kabelo Kesekang shared Webb's sentiments that the tournament was well organised.

He said the game was tense and could have gone either way. He added that as the defending champions, they were under pressure from their supporters who expected a lot from them. He said that though they won, they have learnt vital lessons that they will take on board.

He said this year's tournament was more entertaining than the others. He said the level of play has improved as exemplified by the fact that a netball game went to extra time. However, Kesekang was worried by the dominance of TASC and Cats in netball. He implored other clubs to work hard to break the stranglehold of the two clubs.