adminMbachi Mutukula- Maregere Sports Reporter
SPORTs and Recreation Commission corporate executive Tirivashe Nhe- weyembwa has hailed the netball team for their heroics at the recent African Union Sports Council Regional V Under-20 Youth Games in Bulawayo, where they scooped gold.
In winning gold, the netball team redeemed itself after spending four years away from competitive international events.
Their last major competition was in Swaziland in 2010.
Nheweyembwa also said they took pride in the way most of the disciplines had acquitted themselves during the Games.
The netball side, under the guidance of Ropafadzo Mutsauki, failed to travel to Zambia in 2012 but this year they proved their worth on home soil.
“The team redeemed itself because their last outing to these Games was in 2010 in Swaziland and they did not get on the podium. In 2012 in Lusaka they were not part of the team owing to lack of resources.
“We were very happy with their performance in Bulawayo when they took control of the Games and won gold,” said Nheweyembwa.
Nheweyembwa said the Region V Under-20 Youth Games had provided the Sports Commission with some insightful lessons for the sporting sector especially the performance that was posted by the youthful Zimbabwean team.
“Going into the Games the team had promised the nation through its chef de mission, Sebastian Garikai, that they were aiming for 40 gold medals and this was going to ensure that they displace the perennial winners South Africa since the Games inception in 2004 in Mozambique.
“This was not to be as Zimbabwe managed to win a total of 94 medals against South Africa who had 124 medals in total and we are trying to ascertain what could have gone wrong in the Zimbabwean camp,” Nheweye- mbwa said.
“Team Zimbabwe’s strategy was anchored on the performance of individual sports such as athletics, athletics for the visually impaired, judo, boxing, swimming and tennis while the team sports basketball, football and netball were to add to the performance of the individuals.
“However, from the onset it should be stated that team sports, especially netball and football, boys who were competing in the games really came to the party.
“Football girls performed below expectation as they only managed a bronze after beating Namibia 2-1 and losing 5-0 to South Africa and 5-0 to Botswana.’’
This was probably their worst performance since 2008 in South Africa where they won a gold medal and went to defend it in Swaziland in 2010 through some splendid and captivating dis- plays.
Nheweyembwa said they also expected more medals from the swimming team
“More was expected from the swimming team which comprised seasoned swimmers like James Lawson, Peter Wetzlar, Ratidzo Mtangadura and Chase Ornorati among others found the going tough especially from the South Africans. Generally, our swimmers need to be exposed to tougher competitions as is the case in South Africa.
“The technical bench comprising Gareth Desmond and Debbie Wetzlar also needs to be exposed to higher levels of competition so as to improve their coaching but, more importantly, there is need to widen selection base for the swimmers if we are to make the mark,” Nheweyembwa said.
Online Reporter