Online Reporter
Veronica Gwaze
Zimpapers Sports Hub
AFTER grabbing the solitary ticket to the 2028 LA African Olympic Qualifiers at the just-ended CAVB Zone VI Senior LA28 Qualifiers, the Zimbabwe Volleyball Association have no time to rest.
ZVA have already started preparations for the continental clash set for the DRC in October.
This comes after almost failing to host the zonal competition due to lack of funding, only for the association to be rescued by Zimbabwe Olympic Committee, at the last minute.
They have extended their begging bowl and they are calling on sponsors and partners to come to their help.
“The manner in which our teams performed is beyond what we expected especially considering our preparations and the little to none funding in the game,” said head coach Itsanang Abu-Basutu.
“As a coach you would want more because it is always easier working with a motivated team, under good conditions.”
The men’s team emerged champions in the tournament after grabbing a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Zambia in the finals.
“We have a lot of potential in Zimbabwe despite having gone for so many years without a national team,” said the coach.
“We were supposed to be way behind the other teams in terms of performance.
“Unlike other nations, whose national teams were active, it was a different case for us…after close to two decades we assembled our first national team last year.”
Abu-Basutu’s wish is to have all the foreign-based players in camp and available to represent Zimbabwe in the African qualifiers.
However, for his dream to come true, the association needs financial backing.
“We have plenty of great Zimbabwean players in different countries and, as we head to the next round of qualifiers, we need them in the team,” he said.
“Their presence will give us a huge edge over opponents because they have a lot of exposure and experience.
“Not taking away anything from those who did duty at the zonal level, but the wider the pool and the more experience we have then the better our chances.”
He added: “We want to trace our players who are playing for foreign teams but without support it will be difficult.
“We are calling on corporates to come on board and assist us in time so that we get down to business as early as we can.”
Abu-Basutu was named “Coach of the Tournament” in the men’s side with Sergeant Arnold Simulezi named best coach in the women’s side.
In the women’s category, the African contest ticket was won by Zambia while Zimbabwe settled for silver.
However, the locals bagged most of the individual accolades with Tracy Njanji collecting two as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and Best Attacker.
Veteran captain Nyengeterai Guyo walked away as the Best Opposite Hitter, while Trish Gadza was crowned as Best Libero and Noreen Manhai named Best Middle Blocker.
