adminEllina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE will, for the first time, send men’s and women’s handball teams to compete in continental tournaments this year.
The teams are JZ Moyo, TS Alliance, Danhamombe and Ajax. JZ and TS Alliance will represent the country at the Confederation of African Handball Championships for men in Kenya while the women’s teams, Danhamombe and Ajax, will participate in the Bauber Fall Cup in Congo Brazzaville.
The two competitions will run concurrently from May 20 to 27 and are both organised by the Confederation of African Handball.
TS Alliance qualified for the Africa Cup after winning the end-of-the-year Club Championships in the men’s section last month while JZ Moyo were the runners-up. Danhamombe and Ajax got their tickets for the Bauber Fall tournament after finishing in the top two in the women’s section.
Over the past years the Zimbabwe Handball Federation have been concentrating more on the juniors who have had the opportunity to compete in international events such as the Partille Cup in Sweden but it seems there is going to be a change this year with senior teams expected to participate in continental tournaments.
ZHF secretary-general, Alphios Magiya, said the development is an indication of the growth of the sport at senior level.
“It’s the first time Zimbabwe is sending teams (to continental club events) and these are indications that the sport is growing but it also needs hard work. It strengthens our national teams and, as we prepare for the national league, we want to be professional so that our athletes do not look for competition somewhere else.
“The clubs are raising funds for their air tickets, food and accommodation. If possible, ZHF will help if they have the funds but basically our duty is to facilitate for them to compete, send their licenses so that they are registered for these tournaments,” said Magiya.
Some of the teams such as Danhamombe from Masvingo have already begun preparing for the competition and team coach, Josiah Sithole, said it’s good to see teams from the rural areas qualifying for such big tournaments.
“It means we have taken the sport to the rural areas, we are seeing strong teams coming from the rural areas. We have started our preparations and we are actually going to do some camping but at the moment we are training at Danhamombe.
“We are looking at strengthening the team. When we played in Gweru we had camped for one and half weeks only. We also need to look for sponsorship from the people who usually help us,” Sithole said.
JZ Moyo coach, Sipho Mahlangu, said they are hoping to start their preparations as soon as the registration process is done.
“For now we are waiting for them (ZHF) to give us details on how we go about it, especially registration. On the technical side, we are planning to begin camp sometime in mid-February if everything goes according to plan,” Mahlangu said.
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