By FRANCINA CHOMBA –
THE Zambia Volleyball Association (ZAVA) will send three clubs to the 2014 Zone Six Club Championships slated for Mozambique in December.
ZAVA general secretary, Charles Haambote said Zambia would be represented by Nkwazi, University of Zambia (UNZA) and Kamwala Magic at the Zone Six Club tournament billed for December 16 to 22 in Maputo.
Nkwazi will take a men and women’s team with UNZA taking only men while Magic will be represented by women.
Haambote said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that the clubs were selected based on their performance and ability to travel.
He said the trip would be good exposure for the players and ZAVA was confident the clubs would put up the best performance at the forthcoming event in Maputo.
“We are happy that the selected teams have shown eagerness to travel and we are hopeful that they will bring positive results,” Haambote said.
The ZAVA chief said the association was anticipating an improved performance from the Zambian clubs because the best clubs would be representing the nation.
He said local volleyball standards had improved tremendously over time because of the rapid development of the sport in the country.
Haambote said the teams selected were shaping up well at their various clubs in readiness for the Maputo assignment.
Meanwhile, ZAVA is disappointed with the postponement of the 2014 Zone Six Senior Championship which was scheduled for October 21-25 at the National Sports Development Centre (NASDEC) in Lusaka.
Haambote said the tournament was supposed to be used as a qualifier for the All Africa Games next year.
“We were expecting 10 countries to participate but only three countries had entered for the championship hence it was postpone to a later date,” he said.