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MALVIN Masimbuke has been left out of the Bulawayo Province athletics team for this week’s National Association of Secondary School Heads track and field championships in the Eastern Lowveld.The team leaves today for the championships.
Masimbuke, a pupil at Mpopoma High school, was expected to run the 100m and anchor the 4x100m relay.
The athlete, who has run some of the best times in the event in the last 12 months, is alleged to have gone out of bounds last year. His school was notified of his errant behaviour and he was accordingly disciplined.
Bulawayo Province Nash head-in-charge of athletics Peter Gambiza confirmed that they had left out the talented sprinter.
“As Nash we decided to discipline the boy by dropping him from the team. We felt that if we let him be part of this team he will not learn a lesson and it would be against the values that we are trying to teach these athletes,” said Gambiza.
Sources at Mpopoma High School were last night not happy with the athlete’s treatment. They felt hard done in that the athlete was humiliated before the team and punished further at the school.
Gambiza’s executive’s failure to notify Mpopoma that the athlete should not feature in the selection race was a bitter pill to swallow as he had outshone his competitors.
The chairman acknowledged that the punishment was probably excessive.
Mpopoma are a rising force in athletics and of late have had a number of their runners making it into provincial teams.
Christopher Dube, the Mpopoma High School headmaster, was naturally a disappointed man when spoken to last night. He said they were never advised not to bother bringing the athlete to the selection event and it was painful that the athlete’s confidence and career had been harmed.
“We feel that they have been unfair to our pupil. I’m a member of the Nash disciplinary committee and never have we resorted to such methods. We usually let the school responsible for the athlete discipline the athlete and that is what happened. They had no right to send the athlete away from camp,” said Dube.
Online Reporter