Chronicle Editor
Descent Dube, Sports Reporter
SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD Elizabeth Ndlovu from Tjewondo Secondary School in Matobo district defended her Under-18 national inter-schools 6km cross-country title in Kwekwe on Saturday.
Ndlovu finished the race in a time of 25 minutes 08.12 seconds, breaking the record of 26 minutes 04 seconds she set last year.
She has now been selected to participate in the 1 500m qualifiers for the African Junior Championsip at White City Stadium on Saturday.
Ndlovu’s coach Raven Takura, who is also a teacher at Tjewondo, said she was a rare talent who can go places if she can get financial support to cater for transport fares.
Tjewondo Secondary School is an annex of St Anna Secondary School, but the former’s constant positive showing in sports, and athletics in particular, has made it a force in the district.
“Elizabeth is one of a number of talented rural athletes who has achieved a lot despite the odds and she is continuing to show her talent on a bigger stage. She is an inspiration to other pupils as she has gone to various places through athletics,” said Takura.
“She is showing signs of improvement in every competition she participates in and I’ve seen that she has gained confidence. Having such a talented athlete with lack of support pains me because she has great potential and a special technique in her running,” he said.
In order to help disadvantaged athletes from Matobo, Takura established the Maphisa Athletics Club, which seeks to engage local schools and provide them with a platform for talented athletes to train throughout the year as well as to help raise funds to cater for their expenses.
“So far six schools, Zamanyoni Secondary, Sontala Secondary, Dongwedongwe Secondary, Fort Usher Primary and Tjewondo Primary, are part of the club. The objective is to affiliate to provincial athletics board as a collective and we’re looking forward to welcoming more schools from the district as it will play a fundamental role in promoting athletics from the region.
“Another reason we came up with this initiative was to make it easier when seeking donors and sponsors in the form of training material. Having a club promotes transparency as all students will belong to the club that will ensure they don’t miss any competition,” Takura said.
He said as much as Ndlovu is expected to participate at White City this weekend, transport fare is still a challenge as most of the time he is forced to cover her travel expenses from his pocket.
Ndlovu is also targeting the inter-provincial 1 500m and 2 000m at the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe competition in Harare in July.
— @DecoDecent2
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