adminin camp at Queen Elizabeth School.
The competition is penciled for May 3 and 4 at the National Sports Stadium with athletes from the Southern Africa region taking part.
The event is being hosted by Naph and Nash and caters for schools.
Participants will take part in track and field events.
Naph president, Cynthia Khumalo, said preparations were on course and the management team was expected in Harare early next week for the final touches.
“Preparations are at an advanced stage, our children are camping at Queen Elizabeth.
“They have been there since the 14th of this month. We have 102 athletes and 16 coaches and officials in charge of the team.
“Everything is on course and as of Monday the management team will be Harare,” said Khumalo.
Khumalo said Zimbabwe stands a good chance of winning more medals this year as they are fielding more athletes and will be competing at home.
“We are expecting a number of gold medals. We are very confident we will do well. We know the competition is going to be tough but we are geared up for it.
“Last year I was not there but our team did very well, we came second with a number of medals.
“We are running at home and definitely it will be an added advantage.
“Zimbabwe last hosted the event 10 years ago.
“We were not participating anymore for quite some time because of the economic situation and when we appeared at the Games last year everyone was really excited and now they are coming here.
“It’s good that they are coming and they will see the real situation in Zimbabwe.
“Of course, it’s going to be a challenge to us but to the young athletes they are geared to prove themselves that they can do it and Zimbabwe can do it.
“We are also excited that for the first time we are working together as Naph and Nash,” said Khumalo.
Teams from outside Zimbabwe are expected to be in Harare by May 2 ahead of the competition and some of the countries that have confirmed their participation are defending champions Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa and Zambia.
Online Reporter