ANSA nominations deadline set

Grace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter
THE Sports Commission have set this Saturday as the deadline for the submission of nominations for this year’s Annual National Sports Associations awards. Outstanding athletes will then be honoured at the awards ceremony on December 13 in Harare. Sports Commission’s corporate communications officer, Tirivashe Nhewe yembwa, yesterday said nominations to search for sporting luminaries who lit the stage in various disciplines this year has begun.

The judges’ panel will begin work once it receives nomination papers from the national sport associations, with the unveiling ceremony set for November 15. Boxer Charles Manyuchi is the reigning Sportsperson of the Year. He was honoured in January after last year’s awards were moved to early this year. But as per tradition, the Sports Commission are once again looking to honour the athletes in the traditional month of December.

“The awards’ nomination process has already been opened to the national sport associations and we are currently receiving the nominations from them. Nominees are put forward by their respective national sport associations and if that does not happen, as the Sports Commission we always track on the athletes on a daily basis and we will use our tracking system to enter the nominees.

“It will always be better if the nominees are put forward by their national sport association since they are the best-placed people to know the exact achievements of their athletes, coaches or technical officials and to that end, we would like to encourage the national sport associations to ensure that they nominate their athletes, coaches and technical officials for the annual awards,” said Nheweyembwa.

And 17 categories have been retained for this year’s awards with athletes and officials expected to be honoured for gongs such as Sportsman of the Year, Sports- woman of the Year, Junior Sports- man of the Year with Disability, Team of the Year and Coach of the Year.