Online Reporter
Ellina Mhlanga
Zimpapers Sports Hub
AS they continue with their fine-tuning, members of Team Zimbabwe were yesterday oozing confidence ahead of the start of the African Union Sports Council Region 5 Youth Games in Namibia.
The Games are scheduled for two venues — Swakopmund, which will cater for athletics and swimming and Windhoek, where the remainder of the 12 sports codes will take place.
For Team Zimbabwe football, volleyball and karate teams were the first to leave for Namibia on Tuesday.
The Team Zimbabwe contingent to the Games is travelling in batches.
Speaking before their departure, national Under-20 football coach Thulani Sibanda said he is confident of his charges.
“In terms of preparations we feel we could have had more time . . . But in any case, most of these boys, they have been active in their respective teams.
“So, in terms of their physical fitness they are somewhere there. But of course, we have been trying the last two or three days to work on coordination and understanding between the boys.
“We do have talent in the team. If we are to be honest with ourselves, we may pick something out of the tournament.
“Of course we don’t compete against zombies, they are also preparing like us. We don’t know in terms of the physicality of the other teams. But I am confident we will get something out of it,” said Sibanda.
Sibanda encouraged the young players to make the most of the opportunity of representing the country at this level.
“It’s a route to get to the top. Most of the top players went through this process.
“We need to make the most out of it because being selected out of the whole lot to be given the opportunity to represent the country tends to push you to work harder to make sure you get to the top of your game,” said Sibanda.
Captain for the boys’ volleyball team, Tafadzwa Matibhini was bullish and indicated that they are gunning for gold.
“We have been working from the 14th of April up to now, which means we are up to the task.
“And bringing gold is our only option, we have no room for silver, no room for bronze, no room for any other position. Only gold,” said Matibhini.
The Region 5 Games cater for athletes from the 10 member countries: Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Games have grown to become a key development component and springboard to bigger stages including continental and world events.
