The Sunday News
Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Volleyball Association (ZVA) are ready to host the country’s first beach volleyball competition of the year that starts on Friday, 2 December in Binga and ends on Sunday, 4 December.
The Binga Beach Volleyball is in its second year, with the first edition held in 2021 at the natural beach along the Zambezi River. The inaugural tournament was part of ZVA’s beach volleyball series, with
Harare and Birchenough Bridge playing host to the other two.
This year, ZVA failed to organise the beach volleyball series as they focused on the Zone Six games. Brian Manuel, ZVA vice-president said they are happy with registration enquiries made by teams and they expect each province to send at least two teams for the competition.
“Registration is progressing well and so far, there are seven teams that have confirmed participation. Heading into the final week, we expect more teams to register because this is the first beach competition that ZVA is having this year. We had hoped to have two more but this might be the only beach tournament to be staged this year.
“Remember, we had the Zone Six beach volleyball competition earlier this year and the Binga Beach Volleyball tournament is a perfect opportunity for our players to feel the natural conditions,” said Manuel.
Amazon Club of Harare won the women’s competition after beating AM Academy 1 2-0 in the final with Luveve High School based Luvac, getting the men’s Binga Beach Volleyball title after beating AM Academy 1 2-1.
Binga Beach Volleyball host province, Matabeleland North Volleyball Association has been advocating for the formation of Binga teams to participate in the competition.
Matabeleland North Volleyball Association chairperson Sifiso Buhlungu met the local organising committee made up of some of the people who were involved in the Binga Kasambabezi Marathon to wrap up preparations for the beach volleyball tournament.
“From the organising side, we’ve covered much ground and all key stakeholders are working on having a great tournament. Our target is at least 30 teams and invitations have been sent to schools as well as tertiary institutions.
“We also hope to have individuals coming in to enjoy themselves by being part of the country’s premier beach volleyball competition,” Buhlungu said.
With the Binga District already popular with tourists for its wildlife, boating and cultural activities, beach volleyball also helps to make it the first sports tourism destination.
Binga Rural District Council and Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) co-manage the beach, which lies less than two kilometres down a steep slope from the Binga Aerodrome. — @ZililoR
