adminEllina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwean team to compete at the Confederation of Schools Sport Association of Southern Africa track and field championships in Namibia are optimistic that they will retain their title this week.
The competition starts today and Zimbabwe are the defending champions after winning last year’s event in Lesotho.
They are fielding 82 athletes for the championships running from today until Saturday in Swakopmund.
The championships cater for athletes in schools, with the athletes competing in the 14-and-under for the primary schools and Under-17 for secondary schools.
National Association of Secondary Schools Heads, head in charge of athletics Phillip Chikomwe said they are fielding two athletes for every event as they seek to defend their title.
The teams spent one week in camp at Northlea High School in Bulawayo just before their departure for Namibia early this week and they arrived there on Monday.
“The camp went very well. I think they properly trained for the event and we are going to field two athletes in almost each event.
“The athletes were coming from a long holiday but as the camp progressed, the attitude and commitment improved very well. We don’t have any injuries.
“Chances are high that we are going to defend the title. We are prepared and what I am promising is we are going to defend the title,” said Chikomwe.
One of the coaches accompanying the team, Silas Muringani, said they remain optimistic although they would have wanted more time with the team before their departure.
“It (the training camp) was not the best in terms of time compared to other years in terms of period but the work we covered was satisfactory. We are here to defend our title.
“Obviously we won’t have desired individual performance. There are some athletes who were training with their clubs but some were on track holiday,” said Muringani.
Zimbabwe will fight for honours against countries such as Lesotho, Botswana and the hosts Namibia, who won the championships in 2013 and 2014.
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