Online ReporterTinashe Kusema
Zimpapers Sports Hub
AS the countdown to the Zimbabwe National Youth and Paralympic Games continues, the Sport and Recreation Commission have secured a landmark sponsorship deal that could sustain the event for years to come.
The SRC yesterday signed a five-year sponsorship deal with TN CyberTech Holdings worth US$1.05 million.
TN Asset Management, through its subsidiaries, will also cover beverages and provide career guidance for athletes during the five-years deal.
The sponsorship starts immediately with this year’s edition of the Youth and Paralympic Games, in Marondera from August 12-26.
It will be the first time in seven years that the Games are being staged, having been last held in the Midlands Province in 2019.
“Today marks an unprecedented occasion as the Youth Games give the impetus, or a platform, to the youth to showcase their talent,” said TN Group chief operating officer, Godknows Mudzingwa.
“What we are doing as the TN Group is that we are not coming through with sponsorship in monetary terms alone, but we will offer so much more through our subsidiaries.
“Our core competence is in financial services, through TN Cybertech and TN Asset Management, and we intend to play our role in training the youth on how to invest and how to bank, giving them a platform for financial inclusion.
“TN Beverages is also going to participate in this initiative, coming in as the hydration partner, providing refreshments for the athletes.
“We also have our TN Livestock Trust, which is a company that accepts cattle as a form of deposit and will be offering the athletes guidance.
“The youth who are going to be involved are in all the corners of Zimbabwe, and we are going to use that platform to educate the youth.
“So, we are giving a holistic approach to funding and teaching them that after sports, they will also be able to sustain their livelihoods,” he said.
Mudzingwa explained the modalities of the sponsorship.
“It’s a five-year partnership, starting with this year’s Games that kick off next week in Marondera,” he said.
“The figure is for the whole five years, so they (SRC) will be drawing down from that sponsorship every year. “What we are trying to do is that we believe people are the greatest asset that a country has, and for you to invest in people, you say: catch them young.
“So, that’s why we have tried to partner with the SRC so that we start investing in the grassroots.”
This year’s Games will be running under the theme “Breaking the Silence Through Sport.”
The theme for the 2026 Games speaks to a number of issues that affect communities, from drug and substance abuse to sexual and reproductive health rights, gender-based violence, stigma and discrimination, as well as digital violence and online abuse.
Teams from the country’s 10 provinces are expected to converge in Marondera, as Mashonaland East plays host to the highly anticipated return of the Games.
After the Youth Games, the Paralympic Games will follow, from August 20-26.
As they return, about 3 400 athletes are expected to meet in Marondera for the Games, and they will be out not only to compete for medals but also to play a role through sport in positively impacting communities.
For the Youth Games, athletes will compete in athletics, basketball, boxing, football, netball, table tennis, tennis, and volleyball. Judo is also on the programme as an exhibition code.
The Paralympic Games’ programme will see athletes competing for honours in athletics (visually impaired T11–T13, Special Olympics athletics), goalball, wheelchair basketball, football (11-a-side hearing impaired), netball (hearing impaired), and wheelchair athletics. The Games went off the radar in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic before being put on hold by the need to realign the event to best practices in safeguarding, training, and talent growth pathways.
It has been 23 years since the Games were inaugurated in 2003 in Bulawayo as a national strategy meant to enhance sport development among youths below the age of 20.
And the SRC Director General, Allen Mavunga, is a by-product of the Games himself.
Speaking on the sidelines of the signing ceremony yesterday, Mavunga stressed the importance of the Games, ex-pressing his gratitude at the coming in of a new sponsor.
“This partnership means a great deal to the Sports and Recreation Commission,” said Mavunga.
“In the 34-year history since the Sports and Recreation Commission was established, a partnership like this has never happened.
“We have always been a grant-dependent organisation, and I think this is going to be a wonderful and great relation-ship. “They (TN Group) understand the value of grassroots development, they understand the value of our Vision 2030, our values for NDS2, and not leaving anyone or any place behind.
“In 2003, when the Youth Games were hosted in Bulawayo, I was representing the Bulawayo Province, playing basketball as the team captain and the provincial captain.
“So, the Youth Games provided a platform for me to showcase my talent, and some 23 years on, I’m standing here, leading a great organisation with my team of directors here.
“The Games changed the trajectory of my life because playing for Bulawayo province gave me the opportunity to play for the Zimbabwe national team. “I was selected to represent Zimbabwe in Mozambique, where I was then given the opportunity to travel and go to the United States of America, where I played basketball also.
“So, the Youth Games are a very critical part or pathway for our youngsters to change their lives.
“So, what TN is doing right now, they might not fully grasp or might not fully understand the chances and the changes that they are going to bring to the youths of Zimbabwe.
“This is just the pipeline of our national teams, and they will give an opportunity to a child in Karoi, Binga, and the far reaches of the country an opportunity to showcase their talent and perhaps represent Zimbabwe and perhaps be given a scholarship.
“And that will then change the trajectory of the lifestyle that they will have in the future,” he said.
