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Innocent Kurira , Sports Reporter
SOUTH African World Athletics (WA) certified coach Josephus Le Roux says Zimbabwe has the potential to achieve success in field events particularly the jumps if coaches continue to get training and implement those methods with their athletes.
Le Roux was speaking after the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (Naaz) successfully conducted a WA Coaches Education Certification System Level 2 jumps course, which ended at White City Stadium in Bulawayo on Friday.
Le Roux, who conducted the course was left impressed with how the participants applied themselves during the course.
“It’s been six days of hectic theoretical classes. We had a wonderful group of coaches and voluntary athletes who helped in our practicals. The coaches worked intensively with the athletes. It was days of long hours and a really good class they were interactive and eager to learn some of them were outstanding.
“There is a lot of coaches with a lot of knowledge. l hope they take this knowledge to the different provinces they come from. I was truly impressed with how the coaches want to learn and how they grasped the concepts, it’s a bright sign of the quality of athletes we will produce in the near future,” said Le Roux.
The course drew 13 coaches from Zimbabwe, two from Zambia and one from Botswana.
WA states that the objective of the Level 2 courses is to provide participants with the theoretical and practical training required to make them capable of officiating at all levels.
The Level 2 courses also identify candidates for the position of area technical official.
Those participants whose examination marks meet the required standards are eligible to attend a Level 3 course.
Meanwhile, preparations for the fourth edition of the White City Stars Academy Track and Field Championships set for 16 October are well on course.
Events on offer are 100m, 110m hurdles, 200m, 400m, 400m hurdles, 800m, 1 500m, 3 000m, 5 000m, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay, long jump, triple jump, high jump, javelin, shot put and discus.
Entry fees are pegged at US$3 for the relays, US$2 for the seniors and US$1 for the juniors.
The previous editions of the competition have seen sponsorship from Zimbabwe’s former triple jump record holder Ndabezinhle Mdlongwa and Arnold Payne’s Africa Children’s Hope Foundation.
Mobile network operator Econet has also in the past chipped in with T-shirts and other accessories. The club held its first event in 2021, which attracted more than 100 competitors from Bulawayo, Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South.
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