Following the successful staging of the inaugural National Beach Volleyball Championship in Dar es Salaam, the game’s fraternity has suggested that Tanzania should invest heavily in the sport.
The tournament that wound up at the weekend was organised by the Tanzania Amateur Volleyball Association (TAVA) with 21 men and 10 women’s teams from Tanga, Zanzibar, Arusha, Coast Region and hosts Dar es Salaam taking part.
Players and fans interviewed by the ‘Daily News’ at Mbalamwezi Beach Hotel said there are good chances of the country excelling in beach volleyball at the international stage than in indoor volleyball.
They said it was time Tanzanians started taking beach volleyball seriously. It was evident that most of the players were taking part in a beach volleyball competition for the first time, but they were happy and got well with the game.
Some of them were very good, but they lacked the basic volleyball techniques to master the game which is slightly different from indoor volleyball.
Prisons’ Helen Richard said that it was a very good experience for her as it was her first time to compete in beach volleyball. “I’m very happy to be part of the tournament … it’s a good game. From my point of view, I see that we can do much better in this game than indoor volleyball.
Lizzy John said that Tanzania is a perfect country for beach volleyball; all it need is to work hard to achieve the goal. “Tanzania has nice beaches, the weather is perfect and talent is abundant.
What is needed is to make it happen,” she said. Zanzibar’s Karafuu player Falhan Abubakar added that TAVA has to organise as many events as possible and give the players enough time for competition not just two days.
“We need enough time and more events. Two days with lots of teams are not enough and the tournament was very tough, considering the hot weather,” he said. He said despite the toughness, his team went on to win the title and was happy to be involved.
BY MBONILE BURTON, Tanzania Daily News
