Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube, [email protected]
NEXT Saturday’s Bulawayo Athletics Board (BAB) Track and Field Championships are the first step towards building a team for the returning Zimbabwe National Youth Games.
The Youth Games were last held before the Covid-19 outbreak. They were a good conduit for sports development and for provinces to gauge how their own development initiatives at grassroots level compared nationally.
BAB chairman Watson Madanyika said next Saturday’s track event is part of their plans for the returning Games and will be used as part of talent identification.
“The road to the Youth Games begins on Saturday with our track and field event. We are looking forward to a good attendance and quality. We will use this to identify athletes to represent the province at the Youth Games,” said Madanyika.
Last year, the Sport and Recreation Commission announced that the Games will return after the sabbatical. For athletics, the Games return at the right time with the sport enjoying a good vibe. This follows successes on the international scene.
With efforts to have athletics running all year round, the Youth Games in August will keep active athletes training and the Marondera Games may be a window for the national selectors and academies to scout talent.
For Madanyika, it has been a good year for his province with recent graduates from the schools system in Bulawayo running superb times for consideration into national teams. Former Sobukhazi High School pupils Thandazani Ndhlovu and Methembe Tshuma, with Dennis Hove who was at Hamilton, being drafted into the Zimbabwe team for the Senior African Championships to be held in Ghana next week.
“We welcome the return of the Youth Games. It is a good Government initiative towards national sports development. So these weekend championships will give our athletes another competition to sharpen their skills and be selected into the provisional squads,” said Madanyika.
The successes of their athletes, he said, is a statement.
“We congratulate the boys for doing well and with them up there, they are now a motivating lot for the youths chasing them.
“Now the kids have role models to emulate that they have rubbed shoulders with at home,” he said.
Rutendo Wushe, fresh from the universities games where she won gold in the 100 and 200m, is the odds-on favourite at the championships. But her ambitions will be tested by the presence on the track of Sukoluhle Mlalazi who runs for ZRP Bulawayo.
Titus Chikonye, Wesley Mazarura, Tawananyasha Mukarati, Stanley Mange, Tashinga Magama, Aleck Vhovha, and Michael Mtungwazi will be among the male athletes expected to have a shout at the competition.
Mtungwazi will go to the competition with a season’s best in triple jump of 14,68m while Vhovha has 1,98m.
Madanyika disclosed that Blanket Mine from Matabeleland South is among some of the teams expected at the event.
The provincial board boss challenged athletes to come forward to showcase their talents, push their limits, and earn recognition for future competitions including the Zimbabwe National Youth Games team.
