31 regional netball teams to compete in Samia Cup
Dar es Salaam. At least 31 regional netball teams are expected to compete in this year’s Samia Cup, also known as Taifa Cup, scheduled to start from December 10 to 16 at the National Indoor Stadium.
Other regional netball teams have been urged to compete in the tournament, according to Tanzania Netball Association (Chaneta) chairperson Devotha Marwa. She said Mainland Tanzania will field 26 teams and Zanzibar five.
Marwa said Chaneta is aware that various regional teams are currently in intensive training ahead of the tourney in which Zanzibar’s teams will feature for the first time.
According to the chairperson, the regions that have confirmed to compete in the tournament are Morogoro, Arusha, Dodoma, Geita, Iringa, Kagera, Kigoma, Simiyu and Kilimanjaro, Lindi, Mara and Mbeya.
The other regions are Pwani, Mtwara, Mwanza, Njombe, Rukwa, Ruvuma, Lindi, Shinyanga, Singida and Tabora.
Marwa asked netball fans and other stakeholders to join hands with Chaneta in restoring the status of the sport in the country by turning up in big numbers at the stadium and watch matches.
“We want to revive the sport and make it one of the games with many fans in the country,” she said.
In the 1980s, netball was at its peak when teams such as Bora, Bima and Bandari, which are no longer existing, used to draw huge crowds of fans.
