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Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE national youth and juniors teams coach, Briad Nhubu, says the World Under-20 Championships, in August, gives them a platform for a reflection of their developmental progress.
The championships are expected to take place from August 17 to 22 in Nairobi, Kenya.
The National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe want to take advantage of the school holiday, to bring in some of the targeted juniors, for a camp.
Earlier on, the national association had indicated they would want both the juniors and seniors to meet for a camp, this month.
The seniors were scheduled to compete at the Africa Senior Championships in Nigeria but the continental meet has since been called off. It was also going to be a platform for Olympics qualification.
With the athletics mother body now pinning their hopes on United Sates-based athletes, to reach the qualifying mark for the Olympics, the focus on the local scene is now on the juniors, who are running for qualification to the World Under-20 Championships.
“Participation at the World Juniors is critical as a developmental level that helps coaches, or federations, to determine the efficiency of the training programmes being used.
“It helps to expose athletes to modern trends of application of the technical skills and tactics that are very pertinent for elite development.
“In Long-Term Athletes Development (LTAD), this stage is the learning curve to competition levels that helps athletes to refine their performance, as they pursue the podium route,” said Nhubu. Commenting on the current scenario, in which the country is yet to have an athlete qualifying for the Olympics, with marathon events already closed for qualification, Nhubu said the prevailing environment, due to the Covid-19 pandemic has been the major setback.
“The country has tried a lot, to work towards athletes qualification, as it collaborated with partners like ZOC and Sports and Recreation Commission. “A good number of competitions had been put in place but there has been the negative impact of the Covid-19 restrictions.
“Most athletes weren’t active, during lockdown, and this has distorted their training regimes.
“The future is very bright, from the way our juniors are performing.
“This group is comprised of athletes who are going through LTAD stages from Naph, Cossasa and Nash,” said Nhubu.
Online Reporter