Online Reporter
Ellina Mhlanga
Zimpapers Sports Hub
OVER 350 athletes are set to meet in Harare and Bulawayo for the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe Junior Championships selection events tomorrow.
The track and field competitions will serve as qualifiers for the NAAZ Junior and Senior Interprovincial Championships on April 25 and 26 in Harare. They will run simultaneously with Harare hosting the northern region athletes at the University of Zimbabwe, and for the southern region, the provinces will converge in Bulawayo at White City Stadium.
The top eight in each event advance to the national championships. Harare Athletic Board secretary-general, Sledge Chinyoka, is confident of a positive turnout with more than 200 athletes having entered for the meet going into the final day of registration yesterday.
“We are expecting about 300 junior athletes to converge at UZ this coming Saturday for the NAAZ Junior Championships.
“Bulawayo is also hosting a similar event on the same day. We are covering the northern region.
“But we also have some people who are coming from the southern region who still want to partake in the same competition that is being held in the Northern region.
“To decentralise this competition enables athletes from all over the country to attend rather than having it at one central venue…No one is going to be left out in these two championships,” said Chinyoka.
The upcoming athletes will be out to try and qualify for the national meet, which will double as a selection platform for regional competitions such as the Southern Region African Youth Championships.
“This is more like a precursor for the upcoming NASH Championships that will be held at Prince Edward. We are hopeful it will be highly competitive, because coaches and athletes will be trying to use this as a precursor for the upcoming NASH, fine-tuning athletes for the upcoming championships that will be happening in a fortnight.
“In terms of preparations for hosting this event, everything is now set, it’s now just a question of waiting for Saturday.” Harare will host athletes mainly from Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central, Manicaland, Midlands and Masvingo. However, Chinyoka indicated they have also received some entries from Bulawayo and Midlands. Bulawayo will be joined by Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South and some from Midlands as well. “As Bulawayo Athletics Board I can say we are now ready to host the competition.
“Athletes have registered. We are having athletes from the southern region part of the country.”
Peter Tanyanyiwa