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Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
WITH less activity at senior level, the Zimbabwe Handball Federation are looking at turning around the fortunes by putting in place mechanisms that will ensure there is continuity from junior teams to seniors. The local handball federation are holding a five-day-camp that started on Saturday at Chitungwiza Aquatic Complex for the national Under-18 team that took part at the IHF Zone Six Challenge Trophy in April as part of their long-term plan to grow the sport.
The young players are going through some drills under the guidance of Swiss coach Rolf Haussener who is being assisted by Clemence Leonard and Tatenda Kahonde.
Haussener arrived in the country last Friday and ZHF secretary-general, Edison Chirowodza, said the idea is to have the young players forming the core of their senior national teams.
“Of late it’s true there wasn’t much activities for the senior national teams but we don’t want to assemble a senior national team from nowhere. So we are developing this team from grassroots level.
“We realised from the tournaments we have had, the Zone Six championships, our chances of qualifying for the Olympics are high given that we have prepared. We realised that for 2020 we are already out of reach to qualify, so we are planning for 2024. We identify players now, those that can give us the results we want.
“What pushed us is that we had talent that was being lost at this level after the Zone Six which was the only yardstick we had. You will find that after the Zone Six we would lose track of those players, there was no follow-up on the players.
“We are saying the Under-18 is our target, then the Under-23 we can develop them for the African Games. So this is a new way we are administering handball. So we are saying after the Zone Six we keep track of our players and we keep them together,” said Chirowodza.
The camp will run until Wednesday.
Chirowodza said they have engaged Haussener who has agreed to assist them with their 2024 vision and are hopeful it will be a long-term partnership.
“We are in co-operation with this guy from Switzerland who has volunteered to support the team towards 2024. This periodic camp is the beginning, it’s the first step to keep the team together.”
Online Reporter