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Collin Matiza Harare Bureau
THIS year’s handball Presidential Trophy promises to be bigger and better with the news that teams from the tertiary institutions will make their debut appearance at this annual tournament at Houghton Park Primary School in Harare this coming weekend. The Presidential Trophy was started in 2013 and it first featured top local senior handball clubs before they were joined in last year’s event by teams from Mozambique and Zambia with the Mozambicans dominating in both the men’s and women’s sections of that tournament.

This coming weekend will see the staging of this year’s tournament which promises to be more exciting after the president of the Zimbabwe Handball Federation, Amon Madzvamuse, revealed yesterday that teams from the tertiary institutions will feature in this event.

A number of sponsors have also come on board and will be sponsoring a number of prizes and trophies that will be dished out to outstanding teams and players at the end of this year’s two-day tournament on Sunday.

“I’m pleased to announce that a number of teams from the tertiary institutions have indicated that they would like to take part in this year’s Presidential Trophy where they will be joined by seasoned campaigners such as BEC, Black Rhinos, Bright Burning Stars, Tornadoes, Houghton Park Sharks, Manyame and Hardshots from Manicaland.

“The teams from the tertiary institutions that have indicated that they would like to participate in this event include the University of Zimbabwe, Seke Teachers’ Training College, Morgan Zintec, Midlands State University, United College of Education, Great Zimbabwe University, Bindura University and Chinhoyi University of Technology,” Madzvamuse said.

The ZHF boss said a number of teams or clubs from Harare, who include AM Academy, Western Suburbs, Thunderbolt Stars and Tough Tacklers, will also be fighting for the top honours at this handball jamboree.

“The chairperson of the event’s organising committee, Joanna Takafuma, and the other committee member who was involved in the running of last year’s event, Bernard Muzanenhamo, and our national development officer, Daniel Mutandwa, are on the ground.

“National teams coaches will be scouting for players with the help of scouts on the day with the aim of picking talented players who will be included in our senior men’s and women’s national sides for future international assignments.

“So all is set for the staging of this year’s Presidential Trophy tournament where all ZHF members and affiliates are invited to attend and all our executive board members are also expected to be there and see to it that it runs smoothly,” Madzvamuse said.

The overall winners of this year’s competition will be invited to take part in the Umlazi International Tournament which is scheduled to be held this December in Durban, South Africa, and another team will be chosen “on merit” to take part in the Young Masters International Tournament in Cape Town in August next year.

“The ZHF have organised a spate of tournaments to create awareness and help in the development of handball in this country. These tournaments are starting this weekend in Masvingo before Harare Province host a competition for primary schools at Prospect Primary School on Wednesday and Thursday.

“Naph’s tournament is also scheduled to be staged on October 24 at Houghton Park Primary School and that is where we’ll pick four primary schools that will also be invited to take part in the Umlazi tournament in Durban in early December followed by the Unity Cup competition on December 22 and this will bring the curtain down on the 2015 season,” Madzvamuse said.