Clive Thabo Dube
Sports Reporter
PREMIER MOTOR SPARES is proud to announce that Shalom Primary School will host the 3rd edition of the Preshy Pride Volleyball tournament.
The inaugural tournament which will see Zimbabwe’s best volleyball teams battle it out on the high nets is slated for 20- 21 May 2023, will feature both women’s teams and men’s teams.
History will be made in the resort town of Victoria Falls with the Volleyball tournament set to ignite Matabeleland North Region. The volleyball galore will comprise of teams from Bulawayo, Gweru, Harare and Zambia fighting for honors in the competition.
Saturday’s games will be played in Lisedi with the Champion being crowned on Sunday at Shalom Primary School.
The Zimbabwe Volleyball Association Vice President will be in attendance.
Shalom Ballers Volleyball Club team manager and Chairman Simbarashe Chiringa who is working with the Matabeleland North Volleyball Association (MNVA) to make the event a success, confirmed everything is on track despite having a tough time finding sponsors for the event.
He said they are looking forward to hosting the teams this weekend.
“Organising an event of this magnitude is challenging and exciting at the same time because when you want to put an impact in sport in Zimbabwe it’s not an easy stroll due to lack of sponsorship. Nonetheless we are geared up and we will keep on knocking doors for sponsorship for a sport marginalized like volleyball.” He said.
The sport originally known as ‘mintonette’ lacks recognition and has been surviving on the backbone of individuals who are strongly passionate about the sport. The lack of sponsorship impedes on the growth of the sport but Luckily for Chiringa and his associates, they are able to take advantage of being situated within one of the seven wonders of the world.
“Looking at Mat North as a region, we are not known for sport but having Victoria Falls as a prime tourist destination is an advantage. So mostly its a sailing point where by we promote local tourism through sports and we have managed to attract big Volleyball teams across the country, Namibia, Botswana and Zambia because of our destination.” Added Chiringa.
Teams expected to participate include Black Rhinos, Naba (male defending champions), Highlanders, Cats, Diamonds, Eagles, the hosts Shalom Ballers and Victoria Falls Volleyball Club based in Livingstone, Zambia.
Vipers who are the female defending champions will not be competition in this year’s edition due to unforeseen reasons. Hammers from Harare, will also be not taking part.
Spectators will get a chance to witness one of the most experienced local players such as Alberto Kawunda, Mathew of Highlanders and Black Rhinos’ Murondzi who are expected to give out a resounding performance of the game and have a chance to be named the tournament’s MVP.
The organizers are hoping to peg the MVP prize at US$100 and the bumper prize money for the overall winners is yet to be announced.
“We haven’t decided on the figure as of yet but the assurance is that for the time we will have a good prize money for the winning team. There are also individual prizes and if all goes according to plan the MVP might walk away with $100.” Simbarashe Chiringa told Zim GBC News
Chiringa who is part and parcel of the founding members of Shalom Ballers said the reason behind Shalom Ballers’ formation and holding this tournament annually is to empower the youth and get them off the streets. He revealed that the club is a community project which seeks to give back to the community for a better society.
According to the Shalom Chairman, in a short space of time since the club’s existence, it has managed to create job opportunities to its players beyond borders and has seen its members acquire sponsorships to further their education. The club at some instances also drives back its players to schools through its own financial resources.
In the tournament both the men’s and female’s teams will compete in a round robin format over the two days with a minimum of five matches for the males and two matches for the females respectively in the preliminary rounds.
Chiringa said Highlanders and Black Rhinos are always the front runners, and stated they are the teams to be on the look out for but tournament hosts shouldn’t be ruled out either.