adminTinashe Kusema
AHEAD of next month’s African Union Sports Council Region Five Under-20 Games, Team Zimbabwe chef de mission Chiedza Mafunga has fired the opening salvo, aiming it at South Africa which dominates the regional competition.“We have been playing second fiddle to South Africa at this competition for far too long,” said Mafunga. “Our main target, at this year’s competition, is to improve on second place finishes and finally dislodge them from that top spot,” she said.
Zimbabwe is expected to regroup for camp on Tuesday, with at least 151 athletes converging in Harare for final preparations. The team will be based at Churchill Boys, Girls High and Mabelreign Girls High schools.
“The athletes have finished writing their public exams, both Ordinary and Advanced level, and it’s time we start putting in the final touches.
“Every athlete was given individual training programs and the first thing will be to assess their progress. The individual coaches will them furbish their charges on the game plans and strategies, before we leave for Angola on December 6,” she said.
“South Africa are a very strong team and have dominated the competition for a long time. However, I have confidence in the team we have assembled and would like to applaud government, and everyone else involved, for their efforts to ensure that we do make the games.”
Zimbabwe is expected to send a strong contingent of 178 athletes and officials for the AUSC Region Five Games, slated for December 8 to 19 in Angola.
Participants will be drawn from Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe has registered to take part in athletics, basketball, boxing, football, netball, tennis, swimming, judo and gymnastics.
“We have generally been strong in swimming, tennis and basketball, where most of our medals come from. However, this time around we have sports like netball, football, judo and athletics that have made huge strides in the last couple of years. With that in mind, the hope is that those strides translate into podium finishes,” said Mafunga.
Online Reporter