ZIMBABWE has dispatched a team of 50 athletes both for the Under-18 and Under-20 categories ahead of the Africa Junior Championships set for the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Zambia.
The team, who have been in camp from since Saturday, left the country yesterday morning for the five-day event which will kickstart tomorrow and ending on May 3.
Prior to this competition, the athletes took part in various competitions which were used as part of the selection process. These include the National Association of Secondary School Heads (NASH) national athletics competitions held in Marondera in March and the junior championships held in Bulawayo early this month.
National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe president Tendai Tagara expressed his satisfaction with the number of athletes who will represent the country.
"Our team has been camping in Harare and they left this morning (yesterday) Lusaka and will be flown from Lusaka to Ndola. Our hope was to have 60 athletes but some of them didn’t qualify though we did our best to make sure that our athletes qualify,” Tagara said.
“Our main target is for the team to reach the semi-finals and the finals and of course having medalists especially from the core team that was at the Region 5 Games in Malawi. I'm happy the team is quite big and we hope to have more athletes next year.”
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“The coming back of NASH national championships and the successful hosting of the National Junior Championships made the selection very competitive and made us realise that we are in the right direction.”
Tagara also hopes that the athletes will be able to be recognised for their efforts at these regional competitions just like the successful 2017 season where 12 athletes were picked by scouts for scholarships in the USA.
“That is our first objective and the dream of any athlete to acquire a scholarship and have the opportunity to explore more in their career,” he said.