BULAWAYO Metropolitan province National Secondary School Heads (Nash) has introduced a new system of selecting the provincial team ahead of the inter-provincial athletics finals to be hosted by Marondera on March 20 and 21. Sports Reporter
The provincial team was partially selected on Friday during the inter-districts competitions at the National University of Science and Technology, but the team will be polished up during the camp at Northlea High School.
Headmaster-in-charge (athletics) for the Bulawayo Metropolitan Province, Peter Gambiza, who was impressed by the way the competitions were conducted, said the athletes who qualified for the provincial team will receive letters from Nash.
He also said that they were still working out on the technical team that will train the athletes.
“We will send letters to schools informing them to release athletes who have qualified so that they come for camping on Tuesday. Right now I can confirm Mbonisi Ncube and Vusumuzi Mlilo as some of the individuals who will take charge of the team and we will definitely add others,” Gambiza said.
Some athletes who came first and scooped gold medals in some of the events were left out of the provincial then due to the new selection method which is based on qualification standards such as times for track events and distances for field events.
A Nash athletics official said the idea behind the new method was to take a competitive team to the inter-provincial competitions than taking athletes who do not have chances of bringing medals.
“The idea is to make a strong team, a team we can trust will bring something for the province. Most of the athletes who have been left out of the team regardless of winning their events are very far below the expected standards,” an official said.
