Sibonokuhle Mboni
HUNDREDS of young volleyball players will battle for a place on the national selectors’ radar when 30 teams from six provinces converge on Marondera High School from today to Saturday for the Zimbabwe Volleyball Association (ZVA) Under-15 national schools tournament.
The event will feature 15 girls’ teams and as many boys’ from Harare, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland West, Manicaland and Midlands.
National team coaches and the national team selection panel will be at the venue to identify talent during the tournament.
ZVA vice-president Vengai Nyaude said the competition was a key platform for the future of the sport.
“It gives the opportunity to identify talent and to create a database for our players and to select the national team,” said Nyaude.
As an Under-15s’ competition, the tournament showcases players at the start of their volleyball journey, which makes talent identification critical for the association.
Nyaude said a strong competition was expected, with Mazowe Boys High, Saint Collins and Msengezi High tipped as the teams to watch.
The three schools will be the ones to beat while the rest of the field will be hoping to cause an upset.
Play starts today and games will end tomorrow with Saturday the departure day.
The selectors will therefore have two days to assess players in both the girls and boys’ categories.
With boys and girls competing in separate categories, two sets of champions will be crowned in Marondera.
The winning team in each category will walk away with US$300, a trophy and medals, while the runners-up will receive US$200 and medals.
Third-placed teams will collect US$100 and medals.
The prizemoney has been sponsored by Sirman.
Each participating team is required to pay an affiliation fee of US$100 to take part in the tournament.
The tournament will also feed into the database the association is building for national team selection.
Spectators will not be charged to attend, giving parents, schools and volleyball fans the chance to watch the young players in action at Marondera High School.
The tournament promises two days of high-stakes volleyball as the country’s young players chase glory and the attention of the national selectors.
