ZVA president praises sport’s rise

Lovemore Dube

Zimpapers Sports Hub

MXOLISI Ndlovu, the Zimbabwe Volleyball Association (ZVA) president, believes the present structure of the elite division has to be acknowledged for improving the standard of the game in Zimbabwe.

Ndlovu said this in an interview with Zimpapers Sports Hub yesterday after UZ Wolves beat Highlanders Volleyball Club to land the Region Five Club Championships title in Botswana a fortnight ago.

UZ Wolves beat Highlanders 3-1 in the final to make it two titles after winning in 2019 in Malawi.

Support Unit had beaten them at the ZITF Halls in Bulawayo two years earlier.

“I would like to congratulate our two teams for making it to the final, claiming gold and silver. They worked hard to get there, especially for Highlanders who did not have a sponsor and laboured to get to Gaborone,’ said Ndlovu.

He said the success boils down to the reconstituted Zimbabwe Premier Volleyball League, which has 16 teams, and clubs are allowed to play in their respective provincial championships.

In the elite division, 10 clubs are relegated every year.

“Our success was because of the competitiveness of the Premier League and our decision to promote provincial champions every year. So what we do is we relegate 10 clubs and promote as many so that there is competitiveness in the provinces and national division. So what you find is that any team can beat others.

“The competition is stiff, providing for some great club volleyball,” said Ndlovu.

He said sponsorship was a big challenge for his clubs.

“Only teams belonging to institutions do not struggle; the rest are in a fix, and Highlanders struggled to get to Botswana.

They face the same fate even in the Premier League, so for clubs not to struggle with far too many trips, we run the league as a bubble where they meet at one venue and play many matches. In all, they play 15 league games; the rest are played in provincial leagues and tournaments. The increased number of matches is good for the strength of the league,” said Ndlovu.

The women’s league has 12 teams.

Ndlovu said the top eight clubs then meet from quarter-finals level in a season-shutting tournament in December before the regional championships.