adminPlaxedes Sibanda
THE Bulawayo Provincial Youth team is confident that they will give a good account of themselves during the National Youth Games to be staged in Masvingo from Saturday.
The team will go on a five-day camp at Northlea High School tomorrow as they prepare to defend the title they won last year. The camp will end on Friday when the team leaves for Masvingo.
Marketing and publicity general manager for the Bulawayo provincial sports management board, David Simba, expressed confidence in preparations done by the team adding they are now ready to take on other provinces and retain the title.
“We are sending a team of 202 athletes and 58 officials, which is bigger than all our previous entourages that have taken part in the games and this gives us confidence the Bulawayo team is ready to defend the title,” said Simba.
He also dismissed allegations that the team is short of funds to support the participants.
“We are managing our finances very well and we would like to appreciate the Bulawayo community for helping the team in fundraising,” he said.
Simba also added they raised a substantial amount of money during a golf tournament which was held at Harry Allen Golf Club last Saturday.
The team will be seen off by Minister of State for Provincial Affairs in the Metropolitan province of Bulawayo, Eunice Moyo, on Friday.
Moyo lauded the Bulawayo community and urged it to support the athletes that will be participating in the games.
“We are happy that the children will manage to go to Masvingo though we encountered a lot of challenges in our preparations. We thank the Bulawayo community, and the Committee for a great job done for their efforts in making the trip to the national games a success. We also plead with them to travel to Masvingo and cheer on the Bulawayo team,” said Moyo.
She also added that they will be working hard to make sure that the team is well fed throughout the games.
Moyo assured an impressive performance.
“We are sending a strong and bigger team which is determined to defend the title,” she said.
According to Simba the only threat to Bulawayo team might be Masvingo as it will be having an advantage of playing at home.
The annual Youth Games will see the country’s 10 provinces battling it out in sports such as handball, netball, football, basketball, volleyball and athletics.
Online Reporter