The Sunday News
Dalphine Tagwireyi Sports Reporter
DOUBTS have been raised on the Government’s commitment to sport amid allegations that prominence is being given to selected codes hence poor performances by the “unrecognised” sporting disciplines. The country’s perennial absence and poor performance at major sporting competitions when given a chance, saw the Government mandate Bindura University of Science and Education (Buse) to house a national sports academy in 2006.
The economic meltdown that ravaged this country stalled the implementation of the programme and it wasn’t until 2013 that the Government met relevant stakeholders to map a way forward concerning the project. And in early 2014 the national sports Academy became viable.
The Academy has already produced talented athletes who have represented the country in prestigious competitions, a development that has been hailed as a step in the right direction for sports in Zimbabwe.
In a recent interview, Titus Zvomuya, who is the director of Buse sports Academy, said the initiative was meant to develop the facility as the centre for sporting excellence in terms of talent identification, nurturing and development.
“The academy will serve as a centre of sporting excellence for the nation and will also act as a High Performance Centre once it is fully fledged and well resourced in terms of personnel, equipment, programmes and facilities,” said Zvomuya, adding that the Academy would also provide opportunities for educational advancement to all the selected candidates at whatever level of education they might have attained.
“Currently we have 17 athletes enrolled at the academy and the three resident participants are top performers in the middle and long distance races, we have Titus Nyathi and Enlitha Ncube who are both in Form 4 and Maryjoy Mudyiranji now in Form 5 and they are all enrolled at Chipindura High school,” he said.
Zvomuya said all the Academy’s current inmates had fared very well with the three, (Nyathi, Ncube and Mudyiranji) having participated at the Youth Olympics and Region Five Under-20 Youth Games in 2014.
Zvomuya also pointed out that Ncube made it to the IAAF World Youth Championships in Colombia to be held later this year after meeting the qualifying standards at the Region 5 Youth Games last year.
“Ncube, finished second in the women’s 800m final in two minutes 12,76 seconds and her time was quicker than the IAAF World Youth Championships qualifying time of two minutes 2,14 seconds approved by the IAAF in July last year,” he said.
Zvomuya disclosed that boxer Spencer Mhuruyengwe who also participated in the Region 5 Games will represent Zimbabwe in Doha, Qatar at the World Amateur Boxing Championship later this year as well as in Congo-Brazzaville at the All Africa Games in September.
Zvomuya said the University was indebted to Professor Douglas Crispin from Cuba who not only specialises in sports science and psychology but also assisted with talent identification and training programmes.
Prof Crispin also attends sports competitions at all levels from inter-house to national, in selected disciplines.
“We also had Alfonso Prendes who is back in Cuba now and besides being a sports science specialist he was an athletics coach with Level 3 in jumps coaching and their major achievement was identifying and nurturing talent in all major sporting fields,” said Zvomuya.
“We also conducted talent identification programmes throughout the country and last year we had two successful ones where our professors attended events, scouted and identified 17 participants currently enrolled at the Academy,” he said.
Zvomuya said they had prioritised athletics, tennis, judo, boxing, football, aquatics, basketball, golf, martial arts, cricket and sports for people with a disability, following a scientific research the Academy conducted last year.
