Wits’ Panashe Chiranga lands national team berth
- Tshepiso Mametela
Wits Netball Club have it all to celebrate after netball player, Panashe Chiranga, was selected into the South Africa Under-21 team.
Wits Netball Club have it all to celebrate after netball player, Panashe Chiranga, was selected into the South Africa Under-21 team, the Baby Proteas, for the upcoming inbound test series against neighbours Zimbabwe.
The teams will battle it out at the Bellville Velodrome in Cape Town from 29 November to 1 December, at the same venue where the senior national women’s team defeated Zambia 72-53 to clinch the 2019 Africa Netball Cup in October.
Singling out her first-time selection into the juniors’ ranks as her biggest career highlight, Chiranga said she has had to work on a recipe which delightfully, culminated in a national team call-up for her. “Like how any good thing does not come easy, it has required lots of discipline, sacrifice and hard work to get here,” said Chiranga.
“However, because of my passion for the sport, it never felt laborious, but I rather found joy in my journey. One which I could not have taken without my amazing teammates and coaches, for whom I am grateful as they made me the player I am.” The Wits defender said the opportunity will further assist her in her aspirations of pursuing an international career. “This will catapult me in the right direction and give rise to the respective opportunities,” she said.
“By aligning my goals with that of the team’s and making a conscious effort to play as part of a unit, which I believe that is a winning recipe, as it encompasses everything else i.e. game plan, skill and so on, I hope to help steer the team in a winning direction,” she added, discussing how she aims to pull off a successful assignment with the Baby Proteas.
Chiranga, who is the first-ever Wits player to receive a national team call-up, and who played at the recently concluded Spar Women's Championships for the JNA netball team alongside several elite netball players, has drawn praise from her coaches.
“Panashe’s call-up to the national team means a lot to the management at Wits Sport, and also pushes other players to up their game. Through the efforts of athletes like Panashe, Wits Netball and the University receives great exposure and creates hope for her peers,” said Tebogo Rabothatha, a Sports Officer at Wits Sport.
Wits Netball head coach, Marguerite Rootman, who agreed that the selection of a Wits player at a national level is a drawing cart for when the institution conducts recruitment drives for netball talent, among others, offered up valuable advice for Chiranga.
“My advice to her would be that she plays her game as what she has always done, and not be too nervous because she suddenly is in the eye of the camera,” said an encouraging Rootman. “She should compensate on her game and do what her national team coach instructs her to do. She should just relax and enjoy it, more than to feel the pressure of now being a player for SA.”
