Moorosi Tsiane
LESOTHO Volleyball Association (LVA) public relations officer Buller Phalatsi on Friday said that Mahlaseli will no longer be part of the Lesotho teams who will be competing in this year’s edition of the Zone VI senior Club Championships to be staged in Durban, South Africa next month.
Phalatsi said this year they had hoped to send two teams in each category (female and male) which finished as the winners and the runners up.
Redskins and LDF will be competing in the male category while LDF and Mahlaseli were supposed to compete in the female category to book a spot in next year’s African Club Championships where the top three clubs Zone VI qualify.
“We have been granted two spots in the tournament in each category so our target is two send two teams that finished top of their Leagues last season and in this case it’s Redskins and LDF (males) while in the females’ category LDF were the winners and Mahlaseli were the runners up,” Phalatsi said.
“But unfortunately, the Lesotho Sport and Recreation Commission (LSRC) informed us on Thursday that they won’t be able to assist us in sending four teams to the tourney but will only send two as has always been the case in the past.”
He said the LDF male team however, pledged to finance their team as runners up to Reskins but Mahlaseli do not have the funds.
“LDF will pay for their team in the male category so they will be going but Mahlaseli said they don’t have the money so we will only have three teams representing us,” he said.
Last year Redskins qualified for the African Club championship which was held in Egypt in March this year although they didn’t perform well.
Phalatsi said sending multiple teams was beneficial as it helps more players get exposure which increases the level of competition in the local league.
“Redskins who have been regulars in this competition now are strong contenders annually because of the exposure so it would have been beneficial for the league to send more teams,” Phalatse said.
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