he Bulawayo Metropolitan Province Youth Games team needs $15 000 to send athletes for the Zimbabwe National Youth Games which begin in Gwanda on Sunday.
The Bulawayo Province went into camp at Founders High School yesterday in preparation for the annual games which are being hosted by Matabeleland South Province from August 14 — 21. Sports and Recreation Commission coordinator for Bulawayo Province Sam Dzvimbu yesterday told NewsDay Sport they have resumed camp, but the province still needs funds to send the team to Gwanda.
“We are beginning our camp today (yesterday). We will start off by having the accreditation process for the athletes. But we still require $15 000 to send athletes to Gwanda. That is our major shortfall,” he said.
“We are appealing to the community to help us send these athletes for the Youth Games. Our expectations are very high because we have been performing well in the games. We believe that we have medal hopefuls who can excel for Bulawayo Province,” he said. The province came third in games that were held in Harare last year.
“The teams started preparing for the games a month ago. We are the last province to go into camp, but we have a good team and we will use the training camp to psyche up the players before we travel to Gwanda,” he said.
Dzvimbu said they will host daily workshops during camp for the technical staff and coaches to discuss sports management, philosophy of sports, sports science and sports nutrition which they believe will assist the teams to perform well.
The athletes will fight for top spot in sports which include netball, basketball, volleyball, handball, tennis, boxing, athletics and football. The province is expected to send 194 athletes and 41 officials are expected to travel to Gwanda for the games.
