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Collin Matiza Sports Editor—

PREPARATIONS for the Zimbabwe Squash Academy Trust’s 7th anniversary celebrations tournament set for next week at Belgravia Sports Club in Harare are gathering a healthy dose of momentum with the news that the event has attracted a number of junior players from South Africa.According to the director of the Zimbabwe Squash Academy Trust, Mashumba Mukumba, talented players from one of South Africa’s academies – Egoli – have expressed their interest in coming up here to take part in the two-day event that will be held on November 25 and 26.

“Preparations for our 7th anniversary celebrations tournament are well on course and there are children who are coming from South Africa to play in this event.

“There’s an academy in South Africa which is just similar to ours and it is called Egoli. It has been recruiting underprivileged children from Soweto and the Hillbrow area of Johannesburg; and they have accepted an invitation from us to play in our tournament next week.”

The head of Egoli is Glenn Lazarus who will be bringing the kids from his academy to participate in next week’s Zimbabwe Squash Academy Trust’s 7th anniversary celebrations at Belgravia Sports Club.

“In fact, we are planning to make it an annual event where we will have an exchange programme of children. We will start with South Africa and then Europe, Asia, UK and America.

“In Europe we have our pioneer player Ishmael Mubure, who is based in the Netherlands, and he will provide links for us with other clubs there and I personally have links in Germany, Poland and Denmark.

“These are the places I have visited before and I know the people there and they know me too. Same as in Asia; I have contacts in Hong Kong and Malaysia. In the UK we have full support from the World Squash Federation (WSF) and Professional Squash Association (PSA),” Mukumba said.

The seasoned squash coach and administrator has also been to the United States who have similar junior development programmes like the ones at the Zimbabwe Squash Academy Trust.

Mukumba said the Americans “are very interested in having an exchange programme with us as well”.

“The Americans have several programmes in different cities such as New York, Boston, San Francisco and many more. There are some Zimbabweans who are running some of these programmes and they are also willing to lend a helping hand to us,” Mukumba said.

He also said their 7th anniversary celebrations tournament has been supported by the Europe-based Professional Squash Association (PSA) “who are sending us some prizes to give out to our kids”.

At the PSA, Mukumba is dealing with Adriana Olaya who has indicated that she will be sending some prizes for this tournament which is designed for the Under-11, 14, 16, 19 and 23 age-groups for both boys and girls as well as for senior female players.

“They (the PSA) are very happy to hear that we are celebrating an anniversary for our organisation which caters for the underprivileged children in the high-density suburbs of Harare.

“And as Zimbabwe Squash Academy Trust we feel honoured by the amount of support we are getting from people from all over the world and that will help in making it an international tournament despite the fact that we do not have big prizes; but it’s happening.

“There are also players who will be coming from Bulawayo to participate in this tournament and we would like to thank Belgravia Sports Club and all our sponsors – SEF Prospero Capital (Pvt) (Limited), FedEx Express, St Elmos and DuskHome for making this event a success, not forgetting all those who have contributed in different ways, I thank you all,” Mukumba said.