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Ellina Mhlanga
Senior Sports Reporter
THE youth and junior athletics teams are set to converge in Harare this weekend to commence their final camp for the African Under-18 and Under-20 combined championships to be held in Zambia from April 29 to May 3.
The meet was initially scheduled for Lusaka before it was moved to Ndola.
National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe president, Tendayi Tagara said they are targeting between 40 and 50 athletes at the competition that will feature top juniors and youths from different countries on the continent.
The Under-20 (junior) had to meet NAAZ and the Confederation of African Athletics qualifying standards. But the Under-18 (youth) had to meet the qualifying times set by the national association only, as part of the selection process.
“Our target is between 40 and 50 athletes because not many qualified in the junior category. So it’s a limited number. If no athlete qualifies for a certain event, you field one representative but for athletes who have qualified it’s a maximum of three athletes per event.
“So we are having youths and juniors.
“We set our own qualifying standard for both categories but the juniors also had to meet the continental qualifying standards. For the youths it was just the national standards, that’s how they got into the team,” said Tagara.
The continental championships present the rising athletes an opportunity to earn scholarships depending on their performances.
Tagara said they are hoping their athletes will give their best and catch the eyes of the various scouts and agents that will attend the meet.
“We are hoping most of them qualify for scholarships because there would be many agents and scouts from all over the world. That’s our major target.
“We are also hoping they will do their best and medals will be a bonus. If we can get more than 10 scholarships that would be good.
“Those who were in Malawi, and were on the podium, we expect them to be on the podium again. But it’s every kid’s dream to get a scholarship.
“If we look at the likes of Tapiwa Makarawu, he is doing well in the United States. I think there are six of them in America. They have less than two years in the United States and they are doing well,” said Tagara.
Some of the junior athletes that qualified for the competition include sprinters David Nyamufarira, Panashe Nhenga, Privilege Bower and Denzel Simusialela.
The likes of Nhenga and Simusialela have represented the country in major competitions before. They both participated at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Colombia, last year.
Head coach for junior and youth teams Briad Nhubu has indicated that they need to fine tune the athletes’ tactical and technical approach to their events.
“We need to polish our tactical and technical approach. Also to be worked on is mental toughness. They need to have thorough concentration and focus, so these attributes need to be worked on.”
They are scheduled to leave for Zambia on April 27.
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