The Sunday Mail
Brighton Zhawi – Sports Reporter
NEWLY-appointed Zimbabwe volleyball senior men’s coach Itsalang Abu Basuthu believes his immediate task of ensuring qualification for the All Africa Games is possible but challenging.
The Support Unit coach replaced Artwell Gororo, whom he had served as assistant for the past three years, at the beginning of the month.
The 43-year-old gaffer assumes his new role with the daunting task of negotiating the tough AAG qualifiers in Botswana next month as his first assignment.
“Expectations are obviously high,” admitted Basuthu.
“We have limited time to prepare, meaning there is a lot of thinking to be done.
“We want to qualify of course and it is possible, we have got somewhere to start, but I admit it is going to be hard.”
Basuthu is not new to being the main man at the national team having acted as an interim gaffer on several occasions before his latest appointment.
The veteran coach, who holds an international Level Three coaching certificate and guided Support Unit to a Zimbabwe Open title last week, says every player would have to prove their worth.
“It is up to every player to prove themselves.
“What we want is to have the best national team doing duty for the nation and I will not be looking at club affiliations,” he said.
And on balancing the demands of club and national duties, Basuthu said: “It is going to be a busy year on my side, but I will try to balance the two.”
