Youth games to go ahead

Sikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
THE Sport and Recreation Commission (SRC) said the 12th edition of the Zimbabwe National Youth Games to be held in Masvingo Province in August are going ahead as planned. There have been fears that the country might not be able to avail resources for this annual event that brings together more than 3,000 young athletes as the country is playing host to the African Region Five Sports Council Under-20 Games in December.
The regional games will be held in Bulawayo from December 4-14 and will gobble about $46 million.

The SRC sports development director, Joseph Muchechetere said yesterday that the preparations for the August youth games were going on well.
He said the country could not afford to cancel the sporting jamboree which played a very crucial role in identifying talent. “We will go ahead with our games, with or without the regional games in December because certainly we cannot prioritise regional games at the expense of our own sports development programmes,” said Muchechetere.

He said the Masvingo games have three phases of funding, separate from the Region Five games.
“We have the government grant, provincial participation fees (affiliation) which are $30 per athlete and then the local organising committee’s initiative to raise funds. We cannot therefore feed foreigners while starving our own children. These games are part of the nation’s sports development initiatives which have so far produced athletes who have done the country proud,” said Muchechetere.