…as Lesotho hosts debut beach volleyball tournament…
Leemisa Thuseho
LESOTHO has made history by successfully hosting its debut African Zone VI Beach Volleyball Tournament.
The tournamen which started on Friday and was officially opened yesterday, is ending today at the Lesotho Agricultural College (LAC).
Lesotho is hosting teams Mozambique, Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe in the historic tournament.
The country was awarded the rights to host the games during the Zone VI annual general meeting in Maputo, Mozambique in January 2022.
The country will also host for the first time the 2023 Clubs Zone VI Championships.
Speaking at the official opening ceremony, Confederation of African Volleyball Zone VI president, Khalid Cassam, congratulated Lesotho for successfully organising the tournament.
“On behalf of the federation, I thank the Lesotho Volleyball Association (LVA) and congratulate them for hosting the event,” Cassam said.
He said the event marked a step towards his dream of seeing every member country getting an opportunity to host the federation’s events.
“When I took over as president, one of my dreams was to have the tournament being taken to all our member countries. Now I can see the reality as Lesotho is hosting for the first time.
“Next year, we will come back to Lesotho for the Zone VI Clubs Championships, and we urge the stakeholders to support Lesotho volleyball in preparing for that event.”
On his part, Lesotho Volleyball Association (LVA) president, Lehlohonolo Ncheke, said the tournament was a historic moment for Lesotho volleyball.
“This is a historic moment and we happy to have hosted such a tournament,” Ncheke said.
“We are grateful for the opportunity. When we were given the opportunity to host the games, naysayers prophesied doom but here we are.
“We faced several challenges among them the lack of financial support from the government, but we are thankful to partners like Econet and Revenue Services Lesotho (RSL) who have come up to support us. Some of the expenses were catered for by members in their individual capacities and we are thankful,” Ncheke said.
He said their major challenge in preparing for this tournament was the lack of facilities. However, they worked hard to construct sand courts. Therefore, he thanked the federation for entrusting the LVA with the chance to host the games.