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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
BULAWAYO-bred Zimbabwe senior netball team captain Fellistus Kwangwa has been named the 2022 Vitality Netball Super league (VNSL) coaches’ player of the season in England.

Kwangwa (27) is the first Zimbabwean player to ply her trade in one of the world’s elite netball leagues where she is in the books of Surrey Storm.

She has now spent two seasons in the English topflight league.

“The 2022 VNSL coaches’ player of the season award goes to Felisitus Kwangwa for her match winning performances, sheer determination and growth to improve,” Surrey Storm coach Mikki Austin announced.

“This award represents the player who has shown the most improvement across the entire 2022 VNSL season. It goes to someone who has demonstrated growth and a potential to put in a match winning performance. When this athlete returned from the summer break, it was clear that she had done the complete opposite of her (first season’s performances).

“She was fitter, stronger and more determined to put in some solid minutes on the VNSL court and she has reaped the rewards for that.”

Surrey Storm

The season was great for Kwangwa, who commanded a starting place in her team throughout the season.

She joined Surrey Storm in November 2019 after being selected as the best player in the Telkom Challenge in South Africa and her exploits at the Netball World Cup in July of the same year.

She was also part of the national team that came fourth in the 2019 African Netball Championships in Cape Town, South Africa.

Kwangwa started playing for the national team in 2012 at the age of 17.

She captained the Golden Girls at the 2014 Region 5 Games and also led the team at the 2018 Junior World Cup Qualifiers in Botswana.

She has hinted that she wants to be a netball coach in future and hopes to start attending coaching courses this year.
Kwangwa is also a holder of a Bachelor of Arts Honours in Economic History from the University of Zimbabwe. — @innocentskizoe