Regional Under-20 volleyball fails to revive
Mosah Mokganedi | Wednesday July 16, 2014 10:21
Staging the qualifiers is supposed to be the first step towards resuscitating Under-20 volleyball competitions in the region after more than four years of non-activity. Only Botswana and Lesotho have confirmed participation in the qualifiers.
The development means the two countries receive a bye into the World Indoor Youth Championships at venues and dates to be decided.
Zone VI president, William Nhlapo expressed disappointment but said he understood the financial challenges member countries face. Speaking by telephone from Lesotho, Nhlapo said proceeding with the tournament with only two countries would have been a waste of resources and time.
He said it was a sad moment, especially for players who have been itching to play in the qualifiers. He said except South Africa, the Zone VI countries that snubbed regional event have financial problems. He said that South Africa has a tendency of only taking part in competitions that do not involve regional qualifiers.
Nhlapo told Mmegi Sport that hosting Under-20 competitions will always be a tough task. He said unlike the senior competitions, junior tournaments are not fully-funded.
The regional committee will now meet to map the way forward after the failure to stage the qualifiers. One of the suggested solutions to the current problems is to divide the region into sub-zones. Botswana Volleyball Federation (BVF) senior development officer, Mission Mereyotlhe expressed disappointment at the failure to stage the qualifiers. He said after missing the opportunity to play in the region for a long time, Botswana teams were raring to go. He said the fact that the country automatically qualified for the World Championships is something that cannot be celebrated.
“We are not really excited. This is so disappointing. We had lined up very strong sides ready to teach the region a very good lesson,” Mereyotlhe told Mmegi Sport.
He said it would have been good for Botswana players to meet their counterparts in the region before progressing to the world event. “It would have given them a chance to benchmark,” he said.