Mashumba Mukumba off to Poland

Collin Matiza Sports Editor
ONE of Zimbabwe’s top squash coaches, Mashumba Mukumba, left the country yesterday for Poland to attend the World Squash Federation’s Development and Coaching Conference. The World Squash Federation appointed the Polish city of Krakow to host their 2014 Development and Coaching Conference.

Incorporating a progression theme, the title for the biennial four-day international gathering is “From Talent to Excellence”. The event will take place from this Wednesday to Saturday and will feature presentations from world class coaches and players.

And Zimbabwe’s Mukumba will be among a host of the world’s top squash coaches who are expected to attend this indaba in Krakow.
Mukumba left the country yesterday for Johannesburg, South Africa, where he will catch a flight to Amsterdam, Holland, this evening.

“It is from Amsterdam where I will catch a connecting flight to Poland and I hope to be in Krakow before the conference starts on Wednesday morning,” Mukumba said yesterday.

Mukumba’s visit to Poland for this year’s WSF Development and Coaching Conference was made possible by a number of well-wishers, including Pomelo Mining, who paid for his registration fees and contributed some money towards his airfares.

“In fact, squash members from different clubs chipped in and raised the money for my airfares. Pomelo Mining gave me an extra US$400 on top of the US$1 000 which they gave me for my registration fees for this conference and I would like to thank all these people from the bottom of my heart for their generous contribution towards my trip to Poland for the 2014 WSF Development and Coaching Conference,” Mukumba said.

The conference is being held in conjunction with the Polish League finals, an international all-glass court event held in a square of the historic city of Krakow.

Mukumba said the conference also presents him with the opportunity to learn the new trends of squash coaching and rules which will help the development of the sport locally.

“It actually helps us, it brings us new modern trends of coaching and rules because there is also a refereeing course. It’s also an opportunity for networking.

“From Zimbabwe I am the only one going. I was in Hong Kong in 2009 (for the same conference) and I am expecting to learn new skills of coaching and also new methods to apply to different age-groups,” said Mukumba.

Meanwhile, three promising young Zimbabwean squash players — Tapiwa Jamera, Takudzwa Chuma and Tadiwanashe Chakanyuka — are expected to attend a junior development training camp in Birmingham, England, next month.

Mukumba said St George’s College’s Jamera, Chuma of Watershed and Prince Edward High School’s Chakanyuka were recently invited to attend this junior development training camp which is set to run from July 20 to 25 in Birmingham.

“We, the Zimbabwe Squash Academy, are glad to announce that three of our most promising junior squash players, Tapiwa Jamera, Takudzwa Chuma and Tadiwanashe Chakanyuka, will be going to Birmingham, England, for the six-day junior development training. This is all part of our efforts to produce worldclass squash players in Zimbabwe,” Mukumba said. The training camp will be conducted by Steve Townsend, the West Midlands professional coach, and Sarah-Jane Perry, the world women’s number 17 player.

“We are planning to send more children next year to the United States and Canada for similar camps. This is the first time that we are sending children for such an event for their possible identification towards squash scholarships,” Mukumba said.