Online Reporter
Ellina Mhlanga
Zimpapers Sports Hub
AS the HARARE Athletic Board (HAB) brace for their first meet of the year, chairperson Cousinet Simunyu says they are looking at staging more events as a province.
HAB will this coming Saturday hold a track and field competition at the University of Zimbabwe with participants competing in 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 3 000m and relays, all throws and jumps.
It is open for Under-12, Under-14, Under-16, Under-18, Under-20 and seniors.
Simunyu said having had some positives last year, they would want to carry the momentum into 2026.
“2025 was great, Harare started well. Our athletes represented the country on many meets outside Zimbabwe and did well. We had the likes of Tendai Zimuto, Caroline Mhandu, Takunda Mutizwa, Hailey Chingono and more,” she said.
“We received two awards as a board for being the best organised board in NAAZ (National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe).
“This season is even more promising- more events are lined up and more clubs are geared for the season.
“We want to increase the number of events in the province − all timed electronically,” Simunyu said.
The NAAZ calendar is out and it promises to be a busy year with local and international events.
Athletes will be out to try and make it for events such as the Africa Senior Championships, World Athletics Under-20 Championships, Youth Olympic Games and African Union Sports Council Region 5 Youth Games.
“Of course, we are anticipating to have more athletes from Harare representing Zimbabwe including coaches and technical officials.
“Just today (yesterday) we had an all stakeholders meeting for HAB where we outlined our road map and highlight key issues from our association -NAAZ,” Simunyu said.
The provincial board is looking at coach development, athlete development, officials development, competition structure, partnerships and resource mobilisation, as well as monitoring and evaluation.
For their first meet in 2026, they are expecting over 300 athletes.
The event is open to athletes from other provinces.
“2026 is a unique year for HAB… just at the start of this season we are having electronic timing because we want to get things right from the onset.
“We have one of our partners who bought the electronic timing system…We will be using that and we will ask the NAAZ technical team to assess the system but we want to have a trial run.
“We know our coaches work so hard and we just want to complement their efforts and help athletes, qualify for critical events and championships, secure scholarships abroad and improve performance.
“We had our technical officials’ refresher course to sharpen their skills during events.
“We have increased the number of officials to cover every area and improve efficiency on the day,” added Simunyu.
Having held a conditioning event last November, HAB coaches’ coordinator Mavhuto Tumba is optimistic of the upcoming event.
The previous competition focused on 60m, 150m, 300m, 600m, 1000m, 3000m, relays and field events, presenting coaches and athletes an opportunity to measure their readiness for the new season.
“What I can say is that we are expecting quite a number of people to show up for the competition.
“And we are also expecting to see better results in terms of time, because athletes, they have taken their time to prepare.
“As coaches it is going to help us a lot…It is going to help us to go back to the drawing board and try to see where we need to correct, where we need to improve.”
Some of the athletes expected to grace Saturday’s event are reigning NAAZ Male Youth Athlete of the Year Takunda Mutizwa, Gladys Gadaga, Brenda Njodzi, seasoned sprinter Ngoni Makusha and Hailey Chingono.
Mutizwa and Chingono represented the country at regional and continental events last year in Namibia and Nigeria.
