Back to drawing board for Zim handball team

Gweru (New Ziana) -THE Zimbabwe Handball Federation (ZHF) is appealing to the government and the corporate world for support to enable it to make a mark on the international arena.

The appeal comes after the 2022 Southern Region champions had a dismal campaign at the just ended International Handball Federation (IHF) Trophy Continental Phase Under 20 tournament in Congo-Brazzaville, where they lost all the five games to finish at the bottom of the table.

Zimbabwe lost 20-55 against hosts Congo, 13-41 against Guinea, 19-50 against Nigeria, 30-38 Madagascar and 17-74 against Rwanda.

Outstanding players for Zimbabwe were Irvin Mpofu and top goal scorer Kamucha Gashirai.

ZHF secretary general Edson Chirowodza said it was back to the drawing board for Zimbabwe and they would implement lessons they learnt from the more experienced opponents.

“Zimbabwe’s performance could have been better with more preparations and support from the government. Since it was our first time, we also took a number of lessons for improvement in the future. We need to go back to our drawing board and implement what we have learnt,” he said.

Chirowodza said there was need for more training camps and friendly matches for the national teams.

“We need to seriously develop players from a young age, preparations for major competitions through continuous training, provision of relevant resources and relevant facilities for training.

“There is need to review our performance wholesomely introspecting as a nation how far are we supporting national teams preparations for major competitions. You would be surprised that discussing with other countries, their success hinges on a lot of effort and support from their governments. Availability and accessibility of facilities also matters. Given all this we would have been better placed,” he explained.

There was also need for a coaches’ symposium from all club, grassroots development for players on individual tactics and technics to attain fitness level that match international standards.

Meanwhile, Nigeria won the youth (U18) competition and Guinea triumphed at the junior (U20) event. Both sides also qualified for the Intercontinental Phase of the Men’s IHF Trophy, which will take place in Costa Rica in March this year.

New Ziana