Times Of Swaziland: BOB CATS TO HOST E20K  INTERNATIONAL TOURNEY

BOB CATS TO HOST E20K  INTERNATIONAL TOURNEY
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Machawe Fakudze on 19/03/2023 16:37:00


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.