Moorosi Tsiane
MASERU — Volleyball giants, Red Skins male team, were knocked out of the Zone VI Club Championships quarter finals by Autoricdade Tributaria of Mozambique on Thursday.
The Botswana-hosted tournament which began on December 16th was won by the home team Mafolofolo who beat their national counterparts Kutlwana 3-2 in a final played yesterday.
Red Skins had advanced to the quarter final stage after winning all three of their group stage matches against Zimbabwe, Namibia Defence Force and Mozambique while the female team made an early exit following three losses.
Red Skins were the only Lesotho-based team which participated in the seven-nation sub-regional competition in both the males and females categories, after their counterparts from the LMPS were ordered by the police commissioner to pull out of the competition at the eleventh hour.
The regional tournament saw seven countries vying for a spot at the Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB) interclub’s championships that is played annually under the Federation of International Volleyball (FIVB) calendar.
Lesotho Volleyball Association public relations officer, Letsatsi Ntsibolane said they are however satisfied with how both teams played although they failed not return with any silverware.
“We were hoping for better results from Red Skins but we are satisfied with how they performed considering the calibre of teams they played.
“Botswana has very good developmental programmes and it was not going to be an easy task to beat them especially in their own background. But the team performed well,” Ntsibolane said.
Ntsibolane said the main challenge that local teams face is the lack of good developmental structures and resources.
“Our teams lack good developmental programs and facilities and that hinders their success because they do not get the much needed training,” Ntsibolane said.
He said due to the financial constraints the team’s preparations in the build-up to the tournament were not good enough.
Initially six teams from Lesotho Redskins, LMPS, LDF VI for the male category and Mahlaseli, Red skins females and LDF VI females were billed to compete in the tournament.
However, due to limited financial resources, Ntsibolane said, the other teams had to be left out as only the Red skins teams managed the trip.
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