adminEllina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
THE National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe president Tendai Tagara says it is important to create a broad base for the selection of national teams since they have a busy year with various regional, continental and international competitions lined up.
The national association has indicated that they will be holding events to prepare their athletes for different competitions that will be held throughout the year.
The competitions include the Africa Youth Championships set for May in Botswana, World Junior Championships in the United States in July, Youth Olympic Games as well as senior regional and international events.
And Tagara said they will be moving to Bulawayo this weekend for their track and field competition as they hope to give athletes more exposure in preparation of the task ahead.
“We have had competitions in Harare but this week we are going to Bulawayo. We are going for competition number four in Bulawayo as part of our preparations for the Youth Olympic Games, World Junior Championships in July and the Zone Six Games in December,” said Tagara.
“We also have the Southern Africa Senior Championships, the Africa Senior Championships and the World Relay Championships.
“We are having two competitions per month in Bulawayo and Harare that are being run by NAAZ. We want to create a bigger base for selection.
“The season is too long and we have many events so we want to create a base so that they (athletes) can stand the heat, that’s why we are having these competitions.” Tagara said they were focusing on endurance because they want to build a strong foundation.
“We are looking for endurance because we want to build a strong background. In March we will look on the technical aspect and then start to push them for the heat times.
Online Reporter