adminCharandura, a sprinter of note who has run the 100m in 10.5 seconds in the past, founded the Nyasha Charandura Athletics Club (NCAC) which is based in the city and trains at the National University of Science and Technology’s tartan track.
Bulawayo athletics has been on the decline with a few road runners left to try their luck on the South African circuit. Track athletes have been disappearing with each passing year due mainly to poor training facilitites and lack of incentives.
“We will be the next big thing in athletics, we have a crop of promising athletes who are so passionate about the sport. They are working hard to make a mark for themselves and their country,” said Charandura.
He said in order to give his athletes exposure, he had secured the Botswana and South African track and field calendars.
“With these we can then try to take our athletes there. The advantage is that they will be running on tartan tracks where there is a wind gauge and an elctronic timer so their times will be accurate.
“Only this way can we know the picture and true potential of our athletes. I have confidence in the athletes, they are on track and all they need is to participate in many competitions,” he said .
Charandura said his club was planning to take athletes to Botswana for a track and field event taking place in Francistown on 7 November and another three weeks later in the capital, Gaborone.
Among the club’s star athletes is 19-year-old Reinard Ndlovu, whose personal best times is 48.69 seconds in the 400m and 22.1 seconds in the 200m. He is a Petra High School athlete.
Another is Tarell Ncube, who has run 100m in 10.54 seconds, and also runs the 200 in which he posted 22.21 seconds this year.
Sprints are the club’s area of focus and Jeffrey Mhuriyengwe with 11.22 seconds in the shorter distance is a key member of the club and helped it — along with a fourth member Jaywick Jensen —clock the best 4x100m time among the juniors this year.
Mhuriyengwe also has a personal best of 60.24m in the javelin which is about 4m off the national record.
Jensen’s best in the 100m was 10.89 seconds and 23 seconds in the 200m.
Charandura is ecstatic about the prospects of 13-year-old sprint queen Kiana Lees. She is tipped to be the next Caroline Ncube who was among the top three sprinters nationally at that age in 1998.
Lees has clocked 13.44 seconds in the 100m and will represent the country in South Africa next month at the Christian Convention.
The coach said one of the club’s promising stars, Sean Banda, son of former Njube Sundowns founding director Gift Banda, had secured a scholarship in the States at just 15.
Banda’s best in the 100m this year was an injury-hampered 10.8 seconds.
“Surely his going to Chaote College in the US must open doors for our young club. The sky is the limit and with sponsorship, our club can scale great heights,” said Charandura.
ZRP Bulawayo and Bulawayo Sprinters have in the last two decades churned out athletes like Chamber of Mines legend Gabriel Chikomo, Garnett Dube, Nelton Ndebele, Tawanda Chiwira, Ronald Chiwera, Lewis Banda, Elvis Muzamo and Marvin Bonde.
Charandura called upon companies to consider sponsoring the club and track and field events in Bulawayo where there is an international surface at Nust.
Online Reporter