WITH about eight weeks to go before the African Union Sports Council Region V Under-20 Youth Games, 11 Southern Region countries out of the possible 15 have confirmed their participation.
SUKOLUHLE MTHETHWA/ THANDIWE MOYO
Games marketing director Kennedy Ndebele yesterday told Southern Eye Sport that everything was in order.
“Eleven countries have confirmed their participation in the games. We are still waiting for the others to confirm,” he said.
Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, the Seychelles, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe have so far confirmed their participation. Countries that are still to confirm are Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Tanzania and Mauritius.
The youth showpiece which will be held in Bulawayo from December 5 to 15, we will see countries compete in athletics, judo, netball, football, tennis, swimming, basketball and boxing. The games, which are held biannually on a rotational basis, have previously been held in Zambia (2012), Swaziland (2010), South Africa (2008), Namibia (2006) and Mozambique (2004).
Meanwhile, games deputy chef de mission (administration), Tirivashe Nheweyembwa said the proposed full Team Zimbabwe camp is now in doubt as they do not have adequate resources.
“We were supposed to have the whole Team Zimbabwe going into camp from Friday to Sunday sometime this month, but it looks like that will not be possible because of inadequate resources.
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“We are lagging behind in terms of preparations due to the lack of adequate resources. We will have a peak performance camp in Bulawayo next month,” he said.
Athletics, judo and basketball teams are expected to go into camp in Harare this week.
“The Team Zimbabwe athletics, judo, basketball girls and boys sporting disciplines are going into camp in Harare from Friday to Sunday. They would be undergoing what we call goal-oriented coaching which is mainly aimed at setting objectives. For example in athletes they would target reducing the time for an event.
“If an athlete takes 14 seconds to finish 100m the coaches may target 12 seconds,” he said.
Nheweyembwa last week told this publication that some of the athletes from Harare would commute from home to their respective practising venues because of lack of resources.
