After burying the hatchet between netball associations of Zanzibar and Mainland (Chaneza and Chaneta respectively), the government has shown strong interest to support the two sports’ bodies.
Deputy minister for Information, Culture and Sports Joel Bendera said the government is working on modalities to hire national team coach for netball.
Bendera said the process has reached an advanced stage and the name is on his table waiting the approval from the government treasury.
However, the minister declined to unveil the coach’s details on the grounds of keeping intact the good job done so far.
He said the government has been in suspense while awaiting the two bodies to reconcile in the standoff that took almost a year to be resolved.
Bendera said it would have been an impossibility to hire a coach to work for two associations which were at loggerheads.
He said it has been a huge relief for the government as the two associations have come into agreement to work with hand-in-glove cooperation for national interest.
Chaneta ran short of coach as their announcement of the post in January has received a tremendous response by world-class coaches.
The government issued an ultimatum to the two conflicting netball bodies last week that was followed by a positive response as Chaneta and Chaneza caved in to reach a consensus.
Chairperson for Chaneta Anna Bayi said the differences between the two netball bodies have been ironed out and what is left now is to intensify cooperation.
Chaneta targets to be among the top 15 teams in the IFNA (International Federation of Netball Associations) world rankings by year 2012. Currently Tanzania is at 22nd position on IFNA rankings and fourth in the continent.
The acquisition of the netball coach would play an important role for Tanzania’s bid to participate in world championship to be held in Singapore next year and continental tourney set for Mozambique.
