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Lovemore Zigara Midlands Correspondent
THE Midlands Netball Association (MNA) has announced teams to take part in play-offs set for Harare on February 7 to gain promotion into the National Super League.Buchwa Mine, Jena Mine and Mberengwa based Mnene High School will fight it out with 27 other teams from the other nine provinces for the three promotional slots into netball’s top  league.

MNA secretary-general Abigail Mlangeni said the league had nominated the three teams after the provincial league failed to run its full course last season due to financial challenges.

“After the league failed to end as we had anticipated, we then looked for teams which had been consistent during the season and we picked the three. Mnene High School was doing well in the league and also in the Nash tournaments hence the reason to recommend them to the play-offs is a way of developing the young talented girls,” she said.

Mlangeni said a pre-season tournament had been lined up for March which will curtain-raise the season’s start.

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Netball Association president, Leticiah Chipandu, said her association will be strict about the teams that will take part at the play-offs to ensure that the league remains competitive.

“We would want our league to remain competitive hence these play-offs.We had a situation where a team has won the championship in its province yet it is not as good as the fifth best team in another league in a different province. We’ve our sights on the African Championships to be held this year in Namibia and the only way we can hold our own is through a strong league where teams which take part in the league do so on merit,” said Chipandu.

Her comments come in the wake of calls to have all provinces represented in the national league.