WATCH: Teachers from three provinces set for regional sports tournament

TEACHERS from Bulawayo Metropolitan, Matabeleland North, and Matabeleland South provinces are set to meet on Friday for a regional sports tournament aimed at promoting fitness, wellness, and social interaction among educators.

Officials from the teachers’ sports body, Wellington Dube of Matabeleland South and Petronella Hove from Matabeleland North, confirmed the hosting of the games in interviews earlier this week.

The tournament will feature a variety of sporting disciplines, including soccer, netball, volleyball, tennis, and indoor games such as chess and darts.

Hove said the event was designed to encourage teachers to stay physically active while fostering social interaction among colleagues.

“We are promoting fitness through sport and the people we are aiming to get involved are fellow teachers. We have sports such as soccer, netball, volleyball, tennis as well as indoor games such as chess and darts. Our aim is to promote fitness through sports and socialisation for teachers,” said Hove.

Dube said the initiative was also meant to help teachers relieve stress and improve their mental well-being, particularly during school holidays.

“We are about providing teachers with the opportunity to go out there, destress and refresh. We’ve realised that teachers spend most of their time in the classroom, where there is a lot of stressing as well as physical and mental commitment and don’t get much regular exercise. We want to help teachers to use this time during their holidays to get fit and refresh. The tournament is open to everyone to join,” said Dube.

The organisers said teams from the three provinces had already been assembled for the annual event, which has become an important platform for encouraging healthy lifestyles among teachers.