Zimpapers Logo

Ellina Mhlanga

Sports Reporter

THE Zimbabwe Handball Federation have indicated they expect to hold their elective general meeting next month in Harare. 

The meeting to usher in a new executive had initially been expected this month, but with the year having been disrupted by Covid-19, they pushed it to January to allow for the completion of provincial elections. 

They are now going to hold the elective general meeting on January 23, 2021 at Girls High School in Harare. 

Nominations are expected to be in by January 9 and the president’s post, vice president and two committee members’ posts will be contested for. 

The secretary-general and treasurer are appointed by the executive. 

ZHF secretary-general, Edson Chirowodza, confirmed the date for the meeting. 

“They were meant to be in December, then we had a special general meeting with the councilors and moved to January because we had not had a chance to finish provincial elections. 

“So we finished last weekend and now that all provinces are properly constituted, we decided we can have the national elections in January to give the notice period,” said Chirowodza. 

The outgoing executive led by Stewart Sanhewe came into office in December 2016. 

Handball was approved to resume their activities and as they prepare for 2021, with elections coming, they are also making plans for the national teams. 

They missed out on hosting the International Handball Federation Trophy Zone Six competition this year because of Covid-19. 

However, they are still hoping they can proceed with the regional competition next year depending on the environment here and the countries expected to participate.

“We intend to continue with our handball activities in the new normal. For our national teams we hope to resume in January 2021 because we were waiting for approval. We have a schedule in place. 

“We intend to host the regional tournament we couldn’t host this year. This time we are hoping to host both men and women’s competition,” said Chirowodza.

The men and women’s events used to run concurrently before it was changed a few years ago and they are now alternating.

This year was supposed to be the men’s event and the women’s was scheduled for next year. But with the men’s shelved due to the pandemic, there are chances they could be both staged next year. 

“Of course they will call for bids (African Handball Confederation). Normally those who host the male’s event are given the opportunity to host the females if they host successfully. So as soon as CAHB open their offices, I am sure we will be talking about this. 

“Tentatively they have given the green light for most activities. For everyone in the region we discussed how we will have the games. We agreed based on the things we had planned for, we had a plan for April in 2021. 

“We agreed on the basis that every national team coming should follow the protocols in place. It appears Covid-19 is going to be with us for some time, we have to adapt and adjust, follow protocols. So we will just keep in touch with our regional counterparts advising each other on the developments,” said Chirowodza. 

For local competition, provinces that want to resume their leagues have to apply to the national federation for approval. 

This is meant to allow the handball mother body to monitor and ensure their members follow the Covid-19 regulations for safety of everyone involved.