Yes Games make a return

Bukhosi Mangena Sports Correspondent
THE National Youth Education through Sport (YES) Games will make a return to the national sporting calendar in December after a year’s absence during which they made way for the 2014 AUSC Region 5 Under-20 Youth Games held in Bulawayo last December. The 2015 edition of the YES Games will be held from December 5-8 in Chinhoyi and promises to be a huge event as the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) have doubled the number of participating teams from 25 to 50 teams.

Each province would be required to field two football teams, two volleyball sides and one netball team.

The host province, Mashonaland West, has already assembled a local organising committee (LOC) to spearhead the games’ preparations.

All provinces are set to start preparations for the games next month by holding district qualifiers followed by provincial qualifiers in November.

SRC development officer Martin Dururu said all was in place for the event and said that a sponsor had come on board.

“The games are back and we’ll be having them in Chinhoyi in December. We’re planning something big this time around as we’ll be having 50 teams. We’ve a new sponsor on board, Plan International, who’ve confirmed that they’ll partner us,” said Dururu.

“The hosts have already started their preparations by setting up committees that will make sure that everything goes smoothly,” he said.

The YES Games were introduced by the SRC in 1999 with the mandate of imparting life skills to youths through sports and the games have been held annually, except last year when they had to make way for the Region 5 Youth Games that were held in Bulawayo.