Chronicle EditorEllina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
THE seventh edition of the African Union Sports Council Region Five Under-20 Youth Games may be over now but chef de mission for Team Zimbabwe in Angola, Chiedza Mafunga reckons there are some lessons that can be drawn from the event for future competitions.
Zimbabwe as has seemingly become the norm came second as South Africa retained the top spot.
Mafunga said there are still some areas the country needs to improve to surpass the current performance at the Games where they have managed to come second in six of the editions.
Zimbabwe’s worst performance at the Games was in 2012 when they finished eighth.
“From a chef de mission’s perspective we have always played second fiddle to South Africa. The major area they are beating us is swimming, that shows we still have a long way to go in our junior investment policy in all sport codes, mainly swimming.
“Obviously late preparations also came back to haunt us as the team got into camp late. So there is need to put in place a preparation plan which is systematic to allow the athletes adequate time (to prepare).
“The team actually performed beyond our expectations, beyond my expectations as chef de mission. Especially looking at the circumstances around the preparations,” said Mafunga.
Swimming was one of the major contributors in terms of medals for Zimbabwe but they got silver and bronze as South Africa dominated most of the events.
Mafunga said with such talent in the country and potential, what is needed is to create a conducive environment for the athletes and continuity to ensure the identified talent is not lost along the way.
“The athletes are talented, we have a lot of talent here in Zimbabwe which needs to be captured at the right time and get the right support in terms of coaching, exposure, getting competition time, funding and being provided with a conducive environment, that is access to facilities.”
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