The Teqball Federation of Zambia (TFZ) has made great strides since its establishment in 2019 and as the country begins to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, TFZ President Dickson Jere has set ambitious targets for the future development of the sport. President Jere, who is a renowned barrister, author and political analyst, has appointed a technical official to help with the growth of the sport and has implemented a roadmap to train coaches and referees across the country. By the end of this year, the TFZ hopes to have significantly expanded is growing club network, with President Jere saying:

“We are less than a year old but since our establishment we have been able to put out structures in place. By the end of this year, we are targeting to put 45 teqball clubs around the country. We have already started the process mainly with defence forces teams who are also on board to open clubs. But we are also targeting schools and a number of football clubs have also indicated that they will also want their football teams have teqball teams. Our aim is to make sure we develop a cadre of players that will be able to participate in the Continental Games and the World Championship coming up next year.” 

Previously, FITEQ launched a global club development programme, which is being implemented alongside FITEQ’s existing National Federation support programme to help build a global network of teqball clubs. It will result in an investment of around 10 million euros into the sport, providing the 56 existing National Teqball Federations, as well as all future federations, with the physical infrastructure (notably TEQ Lite tables) and educational support needed to build the sport in their country.

Earlier this year, the TFZ, which has benefitted from the Olympafrica teqball development programme, gained official recognition from FITEQ after making significant progress in all areas. One area of particular progress has been the federation’s development of coaches, with the coaching courses organised across the country before the pandemic brought a temporary halt to this activity.

The TFZ has been very active in supporting communities in Lusaka during the pandemic, helping distribute over 10,000 masks to sports teams in the Zambian capital.