The Sunday News
Mbekezeli Ncube, Sunday Life Reporter
SPORTS and Recreation Commission (SRC) Bulawayo Provincial Co-ordinator Sam Dzvimbu said Team Bulawayo will start preparing for the Youth Education through Sport Games in two weeks time.
The 17th edition of the YES games will roar into life in Hwange from 9 to 13 December.
“Team Bulawayo is on course doing everything we could to make sure we excel in Hwange come December. At the moment we are at induction level, we will start with ward competitions in mid-October, then district competitions will begin by the end of this month and provincials will be held in mid-November,” Dzvimbu said.
YES has three components with equal weighting on marks for a team to come out tops which are peer education, community projects and sport. This edition will be held under the theme “Unethical practices, a barrier to youth development through sport”.
He said 66 Athletes will represent Bulawayo together with 15 technical officials in various sporting disciplines that include soccer, netball and volleyball.
The agenda caters for the country’s 10 provinces and in implementing the project the SRC has joined up with Norwegian Olympic and Paralympics Committee and Confederation of Sport, Unicef Zimbabwe, National Aids Council, Childline Zimbabwe, National Family Planning Council, Forestry Commission and Plan International.
Athletes are also given a task to do a research on the national tree of the year, Afzelia quenzisis (botanical name) Mukamba (Shona name), Umkamba (IsiNdebele name), they should know its uses and how to plant it.
This investigation should be done both practically as well as theoretically and the outcome that the participants get will contribute to the final mark come the end of the competition.
Last year Bulawayo was second-best after the hosts Mashonaland West were crowned in Chinhoyi and according to Dzvimbu, the team will focus on mending on their poor show during this last edition of the youth games and they are hoping to bounce back with sour revenge this time around.
“Athletes should also perform a seven minute movement game based on the theme of the year highlighting life and sport skills,’’ Dzvimbu said.
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