Online Reporter
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
THE Zimbabwe National Youth Games will return on the country’s sporting calendar next year, with Mashonaland East being the host, exactly six years after the interprovincial sports competition was stalled by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The revelation was made by Sports and Recreation Commission board
chairperson, Nathaniel Madzivanyika in Mutare on Wednesday, at a gathering that is part of his whirlwind tour of all provinces across the country.
The tour of the provinces by the SRC board chair is meant to engage provincial sports leadership, getting an appreciation of the challenges faced at grassroots level and possible solutions.
The Zimbabwe National Youth Games programme was inaugurated in 2003 in
Bulawayo as a national strategy meant to enhance sport development among youths who are below the age of 20, and include athletics, basketball, boxing, handball, football, netball and tennis competitions.
Before their hiatus, the buildup process started within local leagues and tournaments, followed by district championships to assemble strong provincial teams towards participation in the Games.
The bulk of the participants are drawn from schools, clubs, colleges and other platforms.
The objectives of the Games include exploiting sport as a platform for youths and life skills development, promoting sport infrastructural development in all communities in the country, promoting peace and unity in the country as well as serving as a platform to identity, test, measure, evaluate and develop talent for our national teams.
Madzivanyika said: “The purpose of my visit is to re-affirm SRC’s commitment to the implementation of the devolution agenda with respect to sport and recreation programming, overall activity implementation including talent selection and development, and sport infrastructural development among other issues.
“We are also here to confirm the return of the Zimbabwe National Youth and Paralympic Games in 2026. The first host province of the Games upon their return next year will be Mashonaland East.”
The Zimbabwe National Youth Games are held on an annual basis in August, and reach out to about 40 000 youths countrywide.
The Games have been conducted on a rotational basis in the provinces since 2003 with the support of the Ministry of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, national associations and other delivery agents, overseers and coordinators.
National sport associations use the platform for talent identification and selection.
The SRC board chair also spoke of the importance of the Sport for Development Agenda in curbing drug and substance abuse in communities.
“Allow me to highlight the critical provincial sport and recreation structures namely, provincial sport and recreation development committees, provincial managementcommittees for Zimbabwe National Youth and Paralympic Games and district sport and recreation development committees.
“We sincerely request for guidance and support to the provincial and district sport and recreation structures. We also want to leverage provincial initiatives in the implementation of the Sport for Development Agenda, that is curbing drug and substance abuse in communities as well as multi-sectoral approach to programming,” said Madzivanyika.
The SRC board chair also reaffirmed Government’s commitment to supporting provincial SRC structures in strengthening sporting programmes across the country.
“Let me also hasten to express Government’s commitment to support for the provincial sport and recreation coordinator to execute duties in the province.
“Land bank for provincial sport and recreation, for example, centres of excellence, land for farming, land for office space (SRC and provincial associations), are some of the initiatives that will soon be rolled out to argument existing sports promotion and empowerment programmes,” he said.
