Chronicle Editor
Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (Naaz) says lack of sporting activities in public schools has denied athletes an opportunity to be shortlisted for a training camp underway in Harare.
The camp started on Thursday last week and ends on Good Friday. Thirty Under-18 and Under-20 athletes are in camp at Prince Edward High School preparing for the World Junior Championships that will be held in Cali, Columbia, in August.
They are also preparing for the Africa Youth Games, the Youth Olympic Games and the African Union Sports Council Region 5 Under-20 Games to be held in Malawi in December.
Naaz director of coaching, talent identification and development Phakamile Lisimathi said some athletes in camp represented Zimbabwe in last year’s AUSC Region 5 Under-20 Games in Lesotho.
These include Panashe Nhenga, who has already qualified for the 100m race in Colombia, Anesu Makuvatsine, Nigel Mthethwa, Linnet Zembe, Thabela Ndlovu and Samukeliso Ndebele.
“Unfortunately, there were no athletics activities in public schools, but we have a database and the athletes in camp are coming from that database.
These athletes have also been active coming for provincial championships and we also considered those who were in the AUSC Region 5 Games team,” said Lisimathi.
He said it was unfortunate that they lost some good athletes from public schools because sporting activities are yet to resume at public schools.
“Schools’ sport plays a key role in providing a base for talent identification and we pray that some of these school kids will be able to participate in the Naaz Junior Championships and compete for places in the national teams by running qualification times,” said Lisimathi.
The Naaz Junior Championships are set for April 30 at the National Sports Stadium in Harare. Naaz president Tendai Tagara said the 30 junior athletes in camp are being trained by some of the country’s best coaches.
“The idea behind this camp is to prepare a core team that will bring medals from the regional, continental and international competitions.
We decided to have this camp now since kids are not at school. We’re happy parents have released them for camp”, he said.
Tagara said the coaches responsible for sprints, jumps, middle-distance and throws are giving the best skills to the athletes and they will give them programmes to follow when camp breaks.
“We will bring these athletes back to the National Junior Championships on April 30 to measure their performances,” he said.
Tagara appealed to the corporate world to assist Naaz financially to organise more such camps. – @ZililoR
Online Reporter