By MOSES CHIMFWEMBE –

THE Handball Association of Zambia (HAZ) has unveiled a K600,000 budget to enable the national team participate at the 2014 Africa Youth Championship qualifiers slated for Kenya in March.

 The continental handball championship will run for 20 days and will see countries battle it out for qualifying slots at the forthcoming Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympics to be hosted by China.

 HAZ president Bwalya Banda disclosed in an interview that Zambia would be sending a contingent of 18 players and seven officials.

 Banda said the association has already written to the corporate world seeking for support ahead of the Kenya trip.

 He was, however, confident that the business community would respond positively to his association’s call for support.

 And the handball chief said preparations for the qualifiers had intensified and that HAZ had lined up a two day tournament billed for the Olympic Youth Development Centre (OYDC) in Lusaka set for next weekend.

 Banda said the tournament that would mark the start of the 2014 season and would be used to keep players in shape before their departure for a two weeks camp in Angola.

 “We need K600,000 in order to send a team to Kenya for the Youth Championship qualifiers and as an association, we are appealing to the corporate world to come to our aid. The championship is not a small event but it’s a big competition that will culminate in teams qualifying for the youth Olympics,” he said.