admin
Bukhosi Mangena Sports Correspondent
A 10-member Matabeleland South team shocked other provinces with a gritty performance to finish sixth in the National Youth Games that ended in Mutare on Sunday. The province made headlines for the wrong reasons last week when more than 120 of their athletes were sent home for non-payment of affiliation fees. Affiliation fees pegged at $80 per individual are a prerequisite to participate in the Youth Games but Matabeleland South only managed to raise $800, which was enough for 10 athletes.
The province was embarrassingly forced to send home the bulk of their athletes after negotiations for them to be allowed to pay later were rejected.
Matabeleland South then selected 10 medal hopefuls, five boxers and five track athletes, and released the rest. The 10 athletes did not disappoint and soothed the humiliation and pain suffered by their teammates ejected from the games when they hauled six gold medals, three silver and three bronze from the two disciplines they participated in.
Matabeleland South scooped four gold medals and one silver in boxing as well as two gold, two silver and a bronze in athletics. Dignity Ncube, Farai Makombe, Pfudzai Masuku and Monica Mkandla won gold in boxing, while Shepherd Ndlovu claimed silver. In athletics Remember Ndlovu and Patience Ngwenya were gold medallists, Philemon Dlodlo won two silver medals and Bernard Mawere scooped bronze.
Their heroics enabled Matabeleland South to finish ahead of Bulawayo, Mashonaland Central, Matabeleland North and Midlands provinces, who had larger contingents and were represented in almost every discipline. Hosts Manicaland won the games with a total of 25 medals, 12 gold, five silver and eight bronze, closely followed by Harare, who amassed 34 medals that included nine gold, 16 silver and nine bronze.
Mashonaland East claimed third spot with eight gold, nine silver and seven bronze medals. Bulawayo managed five gold, 16 silver and 13 bronze medals to finish a poor seventh despite having 234 athletes. Matabeleland South province team general manager Abinel Mseva said they owed their success to hard work and blasted the provincial administration for failing to pool adequate resources for them.
“We were determined from the onset to prove a point. We worked very hard as a team and would have achieved much more if we had remained intact just like we had been preparing for the games,” said Mseva. “We were unfortunate that most of our athletes were sent home due to monetary issues. I would like to urge everyone who comes from this province to shun their individual plans and put the province first.
“It was sad to encounter such things and I urge the responsible authorities to start organising resources now since we are hosting the Paralympics next year, because we don’t want something of this kind to be repeated,” he said.
Gold Silver Bronze Total
1. Manicaland 12 5 8 25
2. Harare 9 16 9 34
3. Mash East 8 9 7 24
4. Masvingo 8 3 5 16
5. Mash West 7 6 18 31
6. Mat South 6 3 3 12
7. Bulawayo 5 16 13 34
8. Mash Central 5 3 3 11
9. Mat North 3 1 1 5
10. Midlands 2 3 5 10
Online Reporter