Police Handball Club coach Antoine Ntabanganyimana has called for a more competitive national league after his team was eliminated at the group stage during the East and Central African Championship played between December 6-12 at Nyayo stadium in Nairobi.

The regional tournament was won by DR Congo side, Police after defeating Ugandan side Prisons 32-28 in the final played last Saturday.

Although they won 6 trophies this season, Rwanda Police failed to extend it as they lost to Kenyan teams Cereals (24-38), KDF (30-35) and Black Mamba (37-45) in group stage.

In an interview with Sunday Sport this week, Ntabanganyimana attributed the failure in the regional meet to lack of competitiveness in the national handball league, and urged rivals to build stronger teams, which lead to improved competition.

"It showed us that our league is somehow not strong and competitive enough. So, we need a more competitive league,” Ntabanganyimana said.

"I would advise other teams to build capacity, because maybe we (Police HC) are strong but we are not facing tight competition from our opponents” he added.

Ntabanganyimana, meanwhile, claimed for his club international competition through some friendlies.

He stated: "We were mostly challenged by inexperience of our players. So, we need some international friendlies to bring that experience to our teams.”

In a separate interview, the president of the Rwanda Handball Federation, Theogene suggested that they have plans to put more emphasis on youth development throughout the country.