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Chipo Sabeta recently in Liverpool, England

SPORT, generally, is all about competition but sometimes nature can conspire to favour one team over another or one individual over the other. 

It is now a reality that special genetic anomalies can give a small contingent of athletes significant and undeniable advantage over others.

Memorable in the minds of many Zimbabwean netball supporters are images of the Sri Lankan goal shooter, Tharjini Sivalingam, who literally stood head and shoulders above our defenders in the opening game of the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup in Liverpool. 

Sivalingam (40) is the tallest netballer in the world hovering at 2.06m and almost always never misses a shot.

She was immense and untouchable… but the Gems’ “dwarfs”, who were also newcomers to the World Cup, defeated the subcontinent side 79-49 in their debut encounter.

For Sivalingam, her height is everything and for Sri Lanka, Sivalingam is everything. In their opening match against the Gems, she converted a phenomenal 44 out 45 attempts. The Sri Lankan goal attack did not even make any attempt to shoot until the second half, as Zimbabwe tightened their grip on the match. So should these “super athletes” be banned, or is there a way of handling them? Is there anything wrong with being born the way you are?

Earlier this year, South African middle-distance runner Caster Semenya was barred from international competition due to elevated levels of testosterone, which authorities said gave her an added advantage over her competitors. It seems a bit extreme, but as the Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka game highlighted, banning these “super athletes” is really unnecessary. 

Height is a clear advantage in the game of netball, and our scouts can learn a thing or two from other top teams that participated in this World Cup.

Despite a sterling show by Zimbabwe defenders and goalkeepers; Felisitus Kwangwa, Rudo Kurume, Sharleen Makusha and Adelaide Muskwe, height was their most fierce opponent. They had very little chance against goal shooters of teams they lost to despite their best efforts.

Kwangwa starred for the Gems with 44 deflections (the highest in the tournament), 18 interceptions (sixth overall), 119 centre-pass receives (sixth overall), 10 rebounds (12th overall) and won player of the match twice, but height limited her potential against lanky goal shooters from countries like Australia, New Zealand and Jamaica, Malawi and Uganda.

Zimbabwe Netball Association president Letitia Chipandu said they will embark on talent identification drive to recruit taller players as part of addressing the height challenges the Gems struggled with at the World Cup. 

“In netball height is a huge factor. Nearly all other teams had tall players, at least one or two that they used as trump cards. Tall goal shooters and tall goal keepers are a part of the scene,” said Chipandu.

“So it is one of our goals to get tall players and I understand that we have two or three tall players. We might need to reshuffle positions for some of our players to adjust to defensive positions. The process requires lots of effort and work, how to use height to your advantage as well as how to position yourself on the run, not just stand there.”

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 need to keep fostering and getting tall girls in and making them feel good about themselves,” said Makunde.

“If you are not very skilled at playing netball, height is a great advantage. Even though you are short, but skilled, that is also good because some short players can run really fast and that’s good for the game or the position (C, WA) since you have to run around and get the ball back,” he said.