THE NATIONAL University of Science and Technology (Nust) will host the Bulawayo Athletics Board (BAB) clubs athletics championships on Sunday. RONALD MOYO SPORTS REPORTER
The event is aimed at identifying young athletes as the province seeks to build a competitive provincial team that will be capable of winning medals during the Youth Games to be hosted by Masvingo in August.
BAB chairman Manuel Mpofu confirmed the event adding that the athletes will be under the watchful eyes of the provincial coaches who will be identifying athletes who meet the standards.
“We are having the track and field events as we want to select a team that will represent the province in the youth games in Masvingo,” he said.
“That’s where the coaches will be picking up a few talented young athletes who would make the grade.
“We are hoping that we would pick up a strong team that will bring pieces of silverware.”
The province has been partially selecting young athletes during the competitions that have been held so far this year, including the National Secondary school Heads events.
Bulawayo finished fifth in the national competitions hosted by Peterhouse College in March.
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Sparrows and provincial athletics coach Vusumuzi Mlilo said coaches had already started preparations.
“The bulk of the athletes have been selected and we have started training them, but still we need to keep on identifying those we have not yet seen. We almost know the level of competition we might face in Masvingo, we have been competing with them in some events, but we are also competitive as they also know that we have a good number of athletes,” he said.
“This time we want to work on more technical areas because we have been poor there. We always have workshops with schools focusing on those basic athletics skills but they fail to implement them.”
Clubs expected to take part include Sparrows, Nyasha Charandura Academy, Juma Phiri Academy among others.
The province boasts young talent in the form of Milton Boys’ High school’s Andile Khumalo, Townsend girls’ Yvonne Vanhuvaone, and Mncumbatha High School’s Pride Mugwagwa among others.
