MBABANE – Seasoned elite side Bob Cats Volleyball Club will host an international tournament in June and July this year.
The club pulled a rabbit out of the hat yesterday when it launched its tournament with a package of E20 000. Teams from within the country and beyond are expected to compete, with a Mozambican side and two from Lesotho already said to have shown interest. The tournament, as launched yesterday, will have male and female divisions, each competing for a package of E10 000. Bob Cats Chairman Mseni Gama said the tournament comes as a fundraising campaign for their teams as they need funds to attend the Zone VI Volleyball Championships in December. “We want to raise money to go to the championships at the end of the year, as you would recall that we failed in the past year due to financial limitations. We want to take all our teams as the association has three slots to fill per gender category,” said Gama, who is also the Eswatini National Volleyball Association (ENVA) Vice President.
Notable is that only two teams managed to represent the country in the past year in Zambia and those are Correctional Sunrise Volley Clubs, both male and female, while Scorpions and OlympAfrica failed due to economic reasons. Some countries such as Zimbabwe had up to five teams that participated in the regional showpiece.
Venue
Meanwhile, registration for the upcoming international tournament slated for June 30 to July 2 will be held in a venue yet to be confirmed. There are 24 teams expected to participate in the tournament, with half in each category. This makes it a first come first serve basis. “We’ve already got two teams from Lesotho that have expressed their interest and also from Mozambique. Locally, OlympAfrica and Ludzeludze have already booked a space in the tournament. The tournament is for exposure more than anything because teams that will participate will gain a lot. I’m happy that already we have a team from Mozambique which we know that they are Zone VI reigning champions,” further elaborated the chairman.
The grand prize for each champion will be E5 000, while runners-up will take home E3 000 with the third place finishers receiving E2 000. The champion will get a trophy and 15 medals which will stretch to the other two prize winners. Gama also added that both their teams knew the mandate ahead of them and that is winning the tournament as they will also participate. Teams interested in playing in the competition can register by contacting him at (+268) 7680 6599. They are also expected to pay a joining fee of E1 000.