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Lovemore Dube, Sports Editor
BULAWAYO Country Club will play host to the annual Bowser Polocrosse Memorial Cup on Saturday and Sunday.
Kirsty Alexander, the public relations officer of the Bulawayo Polocrosse Club, confirmed in an interview yesterday that they would be hosting a two-day national event in the city.
“We will be holding one of our key events on the calendar – the Bowser Memorial Tournament. It is held every year and it attracts participants from all over the country,” said Alexander.
The event is held in memory of a former player of the Bulawayo Country Club based team.
“Bowser was the nickname of Jeremy Phillipson. We host the event to fundraise for our club and also in his honour.
“He died while he was from training at Bulawayo Country Club. We then resolved to hold this tournament to remember him,” said Alexander.
Two clubs will represent Mashonaland and these are Marondera North and Harlequins of Harare.
Chipinge and Bulawayo will have mixed teams.
“We will have two teams from Mashonaland, Chipinge and Bulawayo.
“There will also be the Zimbabwe A and Zimbabwe B men’s teams taking part.
“In the women’s we will have Zimbabwe A and Zimbabwe B taking part.
“We are working on having a good tournament here in Bulawayo,” said the spokesperson of the organizers.
She said because of a high turnover in the teams, people should not expect to watch the same clubs they had last year.
“Our players move a lot, so people should not expect to see the same teams from last year. But that will not take away the gloss from the competition,” said Alexander.
Bulawayo will field 33 players in the men’s section and another three in the women’s category.
Some of the players in action are part of the Zimbabwe team to take part in an international tournament in South Africa next month.
“Many players from various Polocrosse clubs all over Zimbabwe travel to play at this tournament.
“This year we will also have the players who have been selected for the Polocrosse Quadrangular series being held in South Africa in July, who will be competing against teams from England, South Africa and Zambia, using this tournament to improve mtheir games before they travel,” said Alexander.
Because of the high demands in cash of the sport, not many Zimbabweans are active in the game.
“It has stayed afloat because of the sacrifices of farmers and equestrian sports enthusiasts.
The two national teams in the men’s section are expected to finish at the top of the standings.
Online Reporter
derick.khumalo