Ellina Mhlanga
Senior Sports Reporter
LOCAL Organising Committee chairperson for the Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB) Zone VI Nations Championships. Mbekezeli Mthunzi, says they are making progress in their preparations for hosting of the competition.
The event, which is due to take place from September 22 to October 1, is set for the City Sports Centre, in Harare.
Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and hosts Zimbabwe are expected to field their men and women’s teams for the regional competition.
Mthunzi said they have secured the venue for the competition but are still working on the practice venues.
“We are still in the process of trying to get practice venues. So we need two practice venues, so that, we have not been able to actually secure as yet.
“But we are working on that.
“There are various options that we were considering.
“But, practically, I think if we are able to get anything close to the University of Zimbabwe or Harare International School, those would actually be good venues for us.
“We have also had the (Chitungwiza) Aquatic Complex but is way too far I think for practice it will actually be difficult for our visitors.
“So, we are still working around that when it comes to the venues.”
The LOC is still working on the budget to cater for some of the expenses such as the venues, the control committee from the Zone VI and players’ transport among other things.
Part of the funding for the tournament comes from the regional board.
“We still have to actually put the figures together because there are other costs that will be met by Zone VI.
“So once we are clear around that then we will be able to know exactly how much and the other thing that will also actually affect our costs is the number of teams that will want us to be able to handle their accommodation and everything else. That will actually add on to the costs,” said Mthunzi.
The national teams have begun preparation for the event.
The men’s provisional squad was in camp over the weekend while the women’s side had theirs on Monday and Tuesday at Support Unit.