ZIMBABWE national volleyball teams will on Friday resume their final round of preparations for the impending Confederation of African Volleyball Zone VI Nations Championships scheduled for September 22 to October 1 in Harare.
Zimbabwe is set to field both men and women’s teams.
Some of the teams to participate in the tournament are yet to confirm their availability, but about 20 teams are expected to battle it out for the prize.
Zimbabwe Volleyball Association secretary-general Enias Kondo is satisfied with progress made so far and believes that the teams have what it takes to secure a podium finish.
“Preparations are well on course and we have secured the City Sports Centre for the competition. We expect to have the floor installed by the weekend. We are in liaison with a partner for a possible provision of an indoor training venue,” Kondo told NewsDay Sport.
“We are targeting podium finishes, specifically gold medals. We are confident, buoyed by the U20 gold medal in the Region 5 games in Malawi and current performances in Zone VI club championships. The nation is hungry for success, so are the players and the technical teams headed by Itsanang Abu-Basutu for men and Eunice Mutede for women.”
The national teams went through their paces against local clubs after the intended friendlies with other nations failed to materialise.
“Our teams played friendly matches against top clubs NABA and UZ Wolves over the weekend. Engagement with regional nations was unsuccessful and scheduled matches against South Africa were cancelled due to logistical challenges on the South African side,” he said.
- Beach volleyball tournament takes off
- Kondo praises Zim volley performance
- All set for volleyball inter-provincials
- Volleyball resumes camp for Zone 6 Nations
Keep Reading
“However, we received a shot in the arm early this week when our kit sponsor, Viego, supplied us with the training kits. We are receiving great support from the corporate world and we continue to engage them to ensure a successful event. The Sports and Recreation Commission is also chipping in with technical guidance whilst MNL has also donated training kits to the team.”
Since the final squads were announced in the past weeks, foreign-based players are now trooping in and joining their local counterparts with Cyprus-based Douglas Choto already in the country. The duo of Keith Machakaire and Tafadzwa Keni who are based in South Africa have been cleared by their club, Lions VC, and will soon be joining camp.
Melody Moyo and Jennipher Tempo will also shortly be joining the ladies team from Malawi Wolves.
