Chronicle Editor
Nkosilathi Sibanda, [email protected]
ZIMBABWE is set to become a hub for pickleball, a new sport similar to tennis, as the country’s pickleball association hosts a top-level training course for coaches.
Players use paddles with short handles to volley a plastic ball with holes over a net.
The sport was introduced last year in Bulawayo, with the Zimbabwe Pickleball Association (ZPA) initially focusing on local awareness and skills development.
The ZPA is now moving to the next phase of its development programme, to enhance grassroots projects.
ZPA President, Mthandazo Ngwenya, said coaches will be upskilled through a partnership with the International Pickleball Federation.
He said schools were the ideal places to spread the game and instill a love of the sport in future generations.
Ngwenya said a player and coach from the United States recommended by the IPF are expected to jet into the country this month to conduct a Trainer of Trainers course and coaching clinics.
“The coach will be facilitating our pickleball Level 1 coaching and will be a certificate signatory after the course.
“The Zimbabwe Pickleball Association Trainer of Trainers and Coaching Clinics will be at Circolo Italiano in Harare. In July we have a pickleball international tournament in Bulawayo,” said Ngwenya. – @NkosieLegend.
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