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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Sports Leaders’ Institute of Zimbabwe (Sliz) has invited local municipalities to its Higher and Tertiary Education Autumn Sports Management Camp which starts tomorrow in Kariba.
The institute believes local authorities have a role to play in developing sport in the country through supporting community sport development programmes.
Russell Mhiribidi, the Sliz president, said the City of Harare is among local authorities that will send representatives to the autumn camp ending on Friday.
“Besides educational institutions, we are happy that local authorities have registered for the camp. We extended invitations to a number of local authorities because we feel they have a role to play in building a strong and vibrant sports industry. We hope to interact with the heads of housing and community services, who are responsible for sport,” said Mhiribidi.
“If you look at most of yesteryear sports stars, they played at community centres that local authorities managed. While we appreciate city fathers’ emphasis on housing, local authorities mustn’t neglect community sports development programmes that do not only take kids off the streets, but help nurture and groom talent.
“The call is to have local authorities investing in sports infrastructure to enable youngsters to take up sport from a tender age.”
He said recreational facilities provided by local authorities would also enable coaches to impart life skills to youngsters at the community centres.
Sliz are targeting 170 participants for the second edition of the Higher and Tertiary Education Autumn Sports Management Camp.
The camp is also targeting tertiary and higher education institutions’ decision makers, such as principals, vice-principals, deans of students and heads of sports departments.
The inaugural competition held last year at Great Zimbabwe in Masvingo had 104 participants.
Last year’s autumn retreat covered the new education curriculum, with focus on sport as an examinable subject as well as enhancing the teaching of mass displays.
Topics to be covered at the Kariba conference include conflict management in tertiary sport, corporate governance in tertiary sport as well as continuous assessment of the new physical education and sports curriculum.
Mhiribidi is also expected to share with the participants his experiences and partnership that Sliz has established with the West Virginia University of the United States.
Mhiribidi and the institute’s vice-president and head of marketing Clara Mukononyanga returned from America last month where they got an insight into how sports teams at American universities operate as well as their high levels of funding.
@ZililoR
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