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Ellina Mhlanga
Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE Handball Federation technical director Farai Gwisai believes they are on track with their preparation for the International Handball Federation Continental Phase event despite limited resources.
The tournament, to feature both Under-20s and Under-18s, is due to run from November 1 to 7 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Zimbabwe earned their slot in the Under-20 age group when they won the Zone VI tournament.
They have since qualification, been holding periodic camps and are expected to regroup before the end of this month for another session.
“What we have done is we have tried to come up with a conditioning programme that we have given them. We are going to assess their fitness as they come for periodic camps.
“Then also we are looking forward to playing a friendly against Zambia by the end of this month. So, we are harnessing for funds so that at least we can have a friendly match to see the level of our players, and where they are in terms of their delivery and performance.
“So, we have seen that when we play (local) clubs, we always beat them because we are a national team.
“We need another challenge like the Zambia national team . . . We would like to play with their Under-20s, we would also want to play their senior men,” said Gwisai.
The ZHF technical director said they were still running around to raise funds to travel to Zambia.
He added that while the players were making progress on the local front, it will be a different ball game when they compete at the Continental Phase.
“Tactically and technically, we are above par in terms of the level of our handball. But the level of handball when we go to such a level, it’s a bit higher because we are also going to meet players that play professional handball.
“It becomes a challenge to us, to say they are playing professional handball and ours is just amateur handball. So, it’s a difficult competition but we will try to do our best with the preparation,” said Gwisai.
Zimbabwe have received an invitation from Zambia for friendly matches but ZHF secretary-general, Edson Chirowodza, said they were hamstrung by lack of resources.
“We are limited on resources. We are working on having them back in camp again so probably when they are in camp, we will see the feasibility of going to Zambia. “We applied for support, so we are still waiting for a positive response, especially in terms of funding.
“The needs and the demands for preparation are very high knowing the level of competition that it’s now the top teams of each Region and it’s now a World Qualifier.
“Our technical department has also come up with other measures, especially after assessing the individual players’ weaknesses. “As we speak our players are working… our preparation is still intense, though not at the level we want it to be especially now having more game time, more friendlies, and also maybe team training.
“So, basically we are still aware of what is required and working towards maybe realising our goal during the competition,” Chirowodza said.
Zambia’s Under-18 side also qualified for the same competition after defending their title during the regional tournament.
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