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Ricky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
THE stage is set for Sunday’s official opening of the Heath Streak Multi-Sport Academy by the Sports, Arts and Culture Minister, Andrew Langa. The academy is at McDonald Club along Fourth Avenue extension. The facility has undergone a major facelift to meet the celebrated former national team captain’s vision and dream of establishing a world class multi-sports facility in Bulawayo.
The academy is not meant to just identify talent but to nurture it as well.
Upon completion, the facility which is modelled along South Africa’s High Performance Centre in Pretoria, will have a gym, two cricket grounds, a 25m swimming pool and an indoor sports centre that will be used for hockey and five-a-side soccer.
Sportspersons, schools representatives and representatives of companies are expected to attend the official opening.
The academy’s chief executive, Joseph Rego said all was in place for the big event.
He said they also expected Senior Minister of State Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo to also attend.
The academy is expected to start churning out cricket stars in the next three to five years.
The official opening of the academy will also mark the beginning of the annual sponsored Heath Streak Academy T20 Cricket League.
The league seeks to identify and groom talent that will make up the national Zimbabwean cricket teams.
Two select sides from Carmel, Petra, Whitestone, Baines and Milton will play a Twenty20 game after the official opening with Heath Streak coaching one of the sides while the other will be led by three-time Logan Cup winning captain with Matabeleland Tuskers, Gavin Ewing.
Rego said they have already secured sponsorship for the two sides that will play on Sunday and will be known as Choppies XI and the other being Steward Bank XI.
The academy has already started holiday cricket coaching clinics and plans are underway to have some sessions held during the school term.
Streak leads a coaching department that does specialised training made up of Ewing, Matabeleland Tuskers’’ spin bowler John Nyumbu, national cricket women’s team player Tasmeen Granger, Goodwill Mamhiyo and developmental coaches Chris Phiri and Trevor Phiri.
derick.khumalo