The national netball team, She Cranes flew out on Saturday morning to Cape Town, South Africa via Johannesburg for the World Cup event.
The team, comprising 14 players and five officials landed in Johannesburg in the afternoon ahead of their planned test game against Barbados on Sunday. The game against Barbados is expected to provide the required preparation before the World Cup begins on July 28.
“The team travelled safely to South Africa. We are now Johannesburg waiting to connect to Cape Town,” noted team captain, Irene Eyaru confirmed in a chat.
Eyaru noted that the team’s build-up games against Barbados and Scotland in Cape Town would determine the starting line-up. Shooter Mary Nuba, who plies her trade at United Kingdom giants Lightning Loughborough, will link-up with the team in South Africa ahead of the trial match against Barbados.
Uganda who are ranked number 8 in the world, start the campaign against Singapore on July 28 before facing holders New Zealand the following morning, and concluding their group D engagements against Trinidad and Tobago on July 30 in the preliminary round.
Sports minister, Peter Ogwanga in the company of National Council of Sports (NCS) officials had the previous day officially handed over the national flag to the team at a function held on Friday at the Kampala Serena hotel.
Soon after, the team walked to the nearby Imperial Royale Hotel to cut a light moment with some of its sponsors and partners as well as selected friends and fans in an organized official dinner send-off to represent the country. And Eyaru could not hide her excitement when an opportunity came her way.
She praised all partners for standing out of the crowd – promising to reciprocate with good results on the courts of Cape Town.
“It’s such a pleasure; it’s great that we have people who love us, your contributions have sold us (players) internationally… on behalf of the team we assure you all that we’re going to compete,” said Eyaru.
The team’s official partners included Kansai Plascon, Uganda Airlines, and Gal Sports Betting. Uganda’s Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) are also associating with the team by sponsoring selected journalists to enable them cover the event successfully.
Source: The Observer
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