Naaz call to identify talented athletes

By Ricky Zililo

National Association of Secondary Heads (Nash) president Arthur Maphosa has challenged the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (Naaz) to deploy scouts to identify talented athletes when the secondary schools’ 2020 athletics programme gets underway this week.

The Nash athletics programme roars into life this week, with schools expected to stage inter-house competitions followed by zonal championships set for the first week of February. District competitions will run between February 10 and 14 and provincial championships are scheduled for March 10-14.

Mashonaland East will play host to the national finals at Peterhouse from March 23-27.

“People should expect high quality competitions better than last year because our teachers underwent high level coaching programmes facilitated by Naaz and are now equipped to produce good athletes.

“We will also have top-notch refresher courses for both technical officials and coaches so that our competitions are of high standard from inter-house competitions to the national finals,” said Maphosa.

“We are therefore asking Naaz, as custodians of athletics in the country, to send scouts to centres that will be having these events so that they identify youngsters with potential to represent the country at regional and international meets.”

Athletes that post best times in track events and those that have best throws and jumps in field competitions will enhance their chances of making the Zimbabwe team for the Confederation of Southern Africa School Sport Associations (Cosassa) games in April. The Chronicle