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Allen Khumalo, Sports Reporter
NEWLY appointed Judo Association of Zimbabwe (JAZ) president Smart Deke says his executive’s first priority is to decentralise the sport in the country during its four-year term in office.
The new executive is made up of Simbarashe Mashayi (vice-president), Rumbidzai Kahari (secretary-general), Pamela De-Kreck (treasurer), Steve Peason (technical director) as well as committee members Innocent Jim, Miriam Moyo, Tapiwa Pawari, Keith Peterson and Benjamin Mashayi.
“Our first priority is to decentralise the sport to other parts of the country. Judo is not a popular sport in Zimbabwe so we want to ensure that we do our best to spread it across. What I know is that there are only eight junior and eight senior active clubs, which are all based in Harare. Once we manage to decentralise it, we will have strong competition to produce players for international and regional use,” said Deke.
He said the association had started making provincial visits to promote judo and they would be in Mashonaland Central this Saturday where they will meet with the Bindura University Academy.
They had also sent three judo coaches, Lazarus Arufandika, Innocent Jim and Tapiwa Pawari to Zambia for a coaching course as part of their development initiatives.
Deke indicated that the JAZ would host a tournament on May 27 in Harare to select a national team for the South African Open Judo Championships in July.
“We are also aiming at sending more fighters to the African Games competition to be held in Lusaka, Zambia in 2019. From there, our focus will shift to building the 2020 Olympics teams,” he said.
“We have big plans we hope to achieve within the four years we are in office and the only way to do that is to get support financially. All along we have been using our personal resources, but that is not enough. We appeal to anyone interested in supporting us to come forward so that we develop the sport in Zimbabwe,” Deke said.
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