The NetGirls season recently ended for 2022 and what a great season it was! 80 teams, comprised of approximately 1,200 girls and young women from more than 20 villages in Katete participated in the league this year. This was the most teams the league has had in 2 years due to COVID-19 restrictions.

NetGirls was started by Amber Peterman and David Seidenfeld 8 years ago and since then, has been a seasonal project that typically starts in June or July every year and runs for 3 to 4 months. The focus of the project is to promote skills development, promote interactions, build self-esteem, educate and provide mentorship, and to break gender stereotypes in girls and young women through the sport of Netball!

Over the years, the project has grown and integrated some additional programming such as financial literacy, tree planting, menstrual pad-making and face mask creation, but this season the games were the core focus. The league games started in mid-July and concluded on October 24th. The league had competitive games throughout the season and in every zone the teams were ranked from position 1 to 10 based on their highest and lowest scoring points. The top 4 teams in each category with the highest scoring points from each zone were considered zonal winners. The zonal winners further competed in the quarter finals to win places in the semifinals and subsequently the winners in the semifinals came to faceoff in the finals for the NetGirls championship title.

This year, the NetGirls netball junior championship was scooped by Achuche Girls from zone 2. Achuche girls played a total of 18 games in round 1 and 2, won 15 games, lost 2 games, 1 game was a draw. They scored an impressive 229 goals overall!

The NetGirls netball varsity championship was scooped by Kwazakuutuka from zone 3. This was the most exciting moment for zone 3 players and some players from other zones because in recent years, the championship title has been won by teams from zone 2. The moment brought happiness and joyful tears for players and supporters alike. Kwazakuutuka played a total of 18 games in round 1 and 2, won 18 games, lost 0 games, drew 0 games. They scored an impressive 321 goals overall!

Big Kudos to the NetGirls Netball Champions Achuche Girls and Kwazakuutuka and of course the dedicated Zone Facilitators and the projects team for managing the league this year!

And a special thanks to Deloitte for partnering with us to support the NetGirls League this year!

We are looking forward for another exciting season with NetGirls next year.

-Elida

"Life is better with GOALS..."