Handball: Indian Ocean Club Championship |13 December 2013

Local teams need more high level games, says Norbert Dogley

The message is clear. While we are improving, Seychelles’ handball needs to perform at a higher level if it is to succeed at the next Indian Ocean Club Championship (IOCC) in 2014 and even at the next Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG).

This is the message Seychelles Handball Federation chairman Norbert Dogley conveyed when contacted by Sports Nation for his views about the recent IOCC tournament held here.

“Generally, the competition went very well. It was well organised, although we were expecting more teams, most notably from Madagascar and Mayotte,” Mr Dogley said.

“The public was treated to two great finals, although none of them featured Seychellois teams,” he added.

Just to recap, it was the teams from Reunion who dominated the tournament with Case Cressonnière and ASC Saint Gilles winning the men’s and women’s titles respectively.

Case Cressonnière’s victory came against the Reunion counterparts ASHB Tampon in a 28-22 Victory at the Palais des Sports last Friday, while on the women’s side, a 27-22 victory against FC Port was enough to see ASC Saint Gilles crowned as Indian Ocean Club Championship winners.

MF Storm were the only Seychelles team to claim a medal – a bronze – with a third place finish in the women’s competition. MF Storm beat Au Cap Sisters also of Seychelles 30-20 in the third place playoff match.

As for Durantha Brothers they were denied a bronze medal by Mauritian outfit Union Sportive Beau Bassin Rose-Hill who beat them 44-34 in the men’s third place playoff encounter. Union Sportive Beau Bassin Rose-Hill were the runners-up in last year’s IOCC.

Speaking about the performances of the Seychellois teams, Mr Dogley told Sports Nation that “our teams need more high level games to improve their level of play. We will get nowhere by just playing against other local teams and therefore need to meet stronger opponents for us to improve.”

Mr Dogley did however find some positives in the performances of our local teams, stating that there has been some improvement since our last involvement in the tournament, but the teams need to be more consistent and play more aggressively to move further.

S. N.