Handball rolls into Masvingo
SCORES of local handball players are set to make their way to Masvingo this weekend to take part in the first major tournament of the year to be run under the newly-elected Stewart Sanhewe-led Zimbabwe Handball Federation board.
Sanhewe took over the hot seat at ZHF from Amon Madzvamuse towards the end of last year and the Bulawayo-based businessman quickly promised to revive the sport that has been in the doldrums in this country for more than five years.
In fact, handball has over the past years been mainly played in schools or at junior level in this country with no proper structures in place for a Senior National League for both men and women.
And this is all going to change with the staging of the inaugural Open Season Tournament at Masvingo Polytechnic this Saturday and Sunday where most of the country’s top senior men and women’s clubs will be in action.
Alfos Mhondiwa, who came in as the new ZHF vice-president after last December’s elections, recently told The Herald that they decided to stage the Open Season Tournament at Masvingo Polytechnic as part of their first steps to revive handball at senior level in this country.
“It’s no secret that handball has been vibrant at junior level in this country for the better part of the past five or six years which saw scores of young players flying out of the country to take part in big international events such as the Partille Cup, which is held annually in Gothenburg, Sweden, and in the Interamnia World Cup in Italy.
“We have also seen our national Under-21 men and women’s teams participating in the biennial IHF Southern African Region tournament in South Africa, but nothing was being done to come up with strong national teams at senior level.
“So, with the blessings of the new ZHF president Stewart Sanhewe and secretary-general Edison Chiroodza, we have decided to stage the Open Season Tournament at Masvingo Polytechnic as part of our efforts to identify talented players who would then be picked for our senior men and women’s national teams that will represent the country in regional and international events in the future.”
The newly-formed Africa University team of Mutare, which is under the guidance of one of the country’s top handball coaches Alan Mandeya, will be part of the proceedings in Masving.
Mandeya confirmed yesterday that he will be taking both his men’s and women’s teams from Africa University to Masvingo for this weekend’s handball jamboree.
“I’m now the head coach of handball at Africa University and I can confirm that both our men’s and women’s teams will be travelling to Masvingo to take part in the Open Season Tournament.”