A total of 11 African states will be battling for a lucrative World Handball Championship ticket in the East African nation, Kenya.
The National Olympic Committee of Kenya Wednesday confirmed that it has partnered with Kenya Handball Federation to host the Zone V International Handball Federation trophy.
The tournament which will be held at Nyayo National Stadium and The Ulinzi Sports Complex at the Lang’ata Barracks is set to run from the 24th to the 30th of October 2022.
A total of 20 teams from 10 countries are expected to participate. Winners in each category will book a slot to play at the continental level and eventually participate in the world championships.
The Federation is focused on developing young talent and will therefore be focusing on bringing in youthful players to represent Kenya at the games.
The Federation laid emphasis on the programs they have had and will majorly look to tap into the pool of young players from the just concluded East Africa Secondary school games and also those in the National league.
Speaking during the event held at the National Olympic Committee head office in Parklands, Kenya Handball Federation technical director Charles Omondi reiterated the importance of this event focusing on development.
Omondi said the event’s emphasis is on giving the rising stars in the game in on the continent a chance to shine rather than recycling talent.
“This is meant for more of the development of the young players and not competition. The IHF has taken measures to ensure that this is purely to nurture talent rather than bring older players to participate in the tournament.”
The tournament will also be used as a platform by coaches with teams represented in the competition to get training. The training will be conducted by IHF lecturer Zoltan Marczinker.
The National Olympic Committee of Kenya has been at the forefront of partnering with its affiliates to host international events. NOC-K Secretary General Francis Mutuku urged more federations to bid for them to host such competitions affirming that they will support them whenever funds are available.
“Once again it is great to partner with our federations. As we have stated before, hosting international events is the way to go because when we do so we are able to create more opportunities for our athletes, coaches, and generally the sports fraternity in terms of technical requirements when hosting events. We are also very impressed that KHF is focused on youth development because this is the only way to ensure we have great teams to represent Kenya at international events as we look to diversify our medal prospects at these events. Our promise to federations is that as long as they are doing a good job and the resources are available, we will always support them.” added Mutuku.
The partnership will see Kenya Handball Federation receive a total of 1.5 million to help towards hosting the event.
Additional reporting by the NOC-K
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