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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE recently formed Rainbow Amateur Netball League will tomorrow cement its status as a serious league of choice when it holds a pre-season tournament at White City Stadium that will bring in 20 netball teams from across the country.

Sponsored by Pickglow Trading (Private) Limited, the Melody Garikai-chaired league has set aside almost $15 000 to host tomorrow’s tournament in which the winning team will be guaranteed $1 000 while runners up get $900.

The third placed side will walk away with $800 and team number four is set to receive $700 while the fifth best side will be $600 richer.

In what is a milestone development, the other 15 teams will each be paid $500, a development that will surely be a welcome thing to the previously poor remunerating sport under the mother-body Zimbabwe Netball Association.

In fact all pre-season tournaments under Zina would see teams actually forking out $20 as participation fees which go towards their prizemoney.

“Our pre-season tournament is on this weekend at White City Stadium. We expect all the 20 teams from the Eastern, Northern, Central and Southern region to be in attendance,” said the league’s secretary general Moses Gukurume.

He said while their status has not been confirmed by Zina that has since seen the Sports and Recreation Commission making an undertaking to meet both parties, tomorrow’s tournament will present a perfect opportunity for the netball-loving community to buy into their call of being an independent netball league which affiliates to Zina.

Despite RANL making it clear that they don’t want to be the custodians of netball in the country but are only interested in running their own affairs as an affiliate to Zina, the national mother-body has been dragging its feet in recognising them even though almost all netball clubs in the country have shown allegiance to the new league.

“All we want is to be rewarded for our sweat and Zina has not been doing that hence our decision to be part of this new dispensation which promises to uplift the sport and of course the girl child,” said a representative of one of the clubs.

The one-day sporting extravaganza comes just 24 hours after an event-filled one week in which White City Stadium played host to the historic track and field athletics event for secondary and primary schools as the City of Bulawayo continues to enjoy the legacy of hosting the 2014 African Union Sports Council Region Five Under-20 Youth Games. — @skhumoyo2000.