adminLeonard Ncube in Hwange
The Government has rebranded the annual National Youth Games with next year’s edition expected to feature more than 20 disciplines.
Acting Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) director-general Daniel Kuwengwa told Chronicle Sport on the sidelines of the Youth Education through Sports (YES) Games, which ended in Hwange yesterday that Matabeleland North will be the first province to host more disciplines following a resolution made at a sports indaba in the coalmining town.
This means games will be hosted at more than one centre, with Hwange, Victoria Falls, Lupane and Tsholotsho all co-hosting respective disciplines depending on which facilities are available there, according to Kuwengwa.
“We are thinking big about the rebranded games, but we have to take cognisance of what facilities are in Matabeleland North province before deciding on the number of disciplines we can take on board,” Kuwengwa said.
Sports director for the Southern Region Isaiah Mpofu said a resolution had been made to increase sporting disciplines from around eight to about 21.
The eight include netball, football, basketball, tennis, handball, athletics, volleyball and boxing.
Kuwengwa said after the 2016 YES games, which act as a precursor to the Youth Games which the province will host in August next year, organisers will start an assessment of available facilities around the province to ascertain which disciplines can be considered for next year.
“For now it’s difficult to come up with the number of disciplines, but the most definite thing is that we are going to increase them.
“For example, we can’t start talking about squash when we are not sure yet if there are squash facilities,” said Mpofu.
“The recommendation is that we increase the number and we can host respective age groups and disciplines in Victoria Falls, Lupane, Hwange or Tsholotsho depending on which facilities are there.”
Hwange and Victoria Falls are sure of hosting a bigger number of the disciplines, with the former boasting of football, volleyball, basketball, tennis, boxing, squash, cricket and swimming facilities that are presently lying idle.
Kuwengwa said no stock taking had ever been done on facilities in the province.
The National Youth Games are part of a national strategy aimed at identifying sporting talent among the youths and nurturing it.
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Online Reporter