adminCollin Matiza Sports Editor
IN a move that will go a long way in raising the officiating standards of handball in this country, the Mashonaland West Handball Association will have an international referees’ course at Jameson High School in Kadoma from December 3 to 5. Alfos Mhondiwa, the vice-chairperson of the Mashonaland West Handball Association, told The Herald yesterday that they have invited three top instructors from France, Germany and Denmark to conduct this international referees course.
“As an incentive to the would-be course participants, the outstanding officials at this referees course will be invited to officiate at the Partille Cup in the next editions of this big youth international handball tournament in Gothenburg, Sweden.
“Our international partners from Sweden have indicated that they would like to invite a number Zimbabwean handball referees to officiate at the Partille Cup and the participants who would have done well at our international referees course in December will get this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of being invited to handle some of the matches at this tournament in Gothenburg in the future.
“So we are inviting schools, clubs and other interested parties to send participants to this important international referees training course,” Mhondiwa said.
Participants at the December 3-5 international referees course will each be required to pay $100 which will cover their participation fee, food, accommodation, certification and course materials.
The international referees’ course will be held simultaneously with the 2015 Mashrhino Cup, a junior handball tournament that is designed for players under the age of 18.
Mhondiwa said they will stage the Mashrhino Cup as part of their preparations for next year’s Hanse Cup in Hamburg, Germany. The Hanse Cup is one of Europe’s biggest youth handball tournaments and it is held annually in Hamburg during the weekend of the Easter Holidays and it is designed for the Under-15 to 17 age-groups with most of the participating clubs coming from Denmark, the Netherlands, France and the hosts Germany.
In April this year, the organisers of the Hanse Cup broke with tradition when they invited the Mashrhino boys and girls select team from Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland West Province to take part in this tournament.
“The two teams which we have selected for next year’s Hanse Cup will take part in the Mashrhino Cup at Jameson High School in Kadoma from December 3-5 where we are also inviting other interested schools and clubs to come and take part in this junior handball tournament which is open for the 18 years and under, 15 years and under and 12 years and under age-groups.
“The participation fee for each school or club is $30 and each participant will be required to pay $3 that will go towards food and accommodation.
“This is all part of our preparations for the 2016 Hanse Cup as well as giving other schools and clubs a chance to face each other before the 2015 season officially ends. So, we are looking forward to hosting a big youth handball tournament at Jameson High School in December,” Mhondiwa said.
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