The Sunday Mail
Fatima Bulla – Sports Reporter
THE organisation of the 12th edition of the Zimbabwe National Youth Games, whose curtain came down in Masvingo on August 24, left a lot to be desired.
Events started late, athletes and officials had meals at awkward times and most facilities were an eyesore.
A lot of the chaos was blamed on financial constraints, but some of them simply boiled down to poor organisation.
On the first day athletes — many of whom had travelled long distances —only got to eat around 10pm as there was a delay in preparing food at Victoria High School.
“How do you expect athletes to perform well on the field of play when they eat at such odd times?” fumed an official from Bulawayo.
Harare province won the games with 17 gold medals, one more than the hosts, while last year’s winners Bulawayo came third with nine gold medals.
However, the fact that Matabeleland North and South, Mashonaland East and Mashonaland West provinces could not raise full teams robbed the tournament of its gloss.
The competition’s director for volleyball, Chris Chivinge, said lack of funding had resulted in fewer participants than last year.
“We had six provinces competing in women and eight in men, which was a cause for concern,” he said.
“However, we saw a marked improvement in the quality of athletes participating in the games as well as the match officiating.”
Chivinge lamented the “inappropriate” facilities that hosted the volleyball competitions: “This is an indoor sport being played on an outdoor facility (Mucheke Grounds). This has an effect on the players when they have to compete with other nations because in those countries matches are played indoors.”
Boxers had a hell of a time as the rings at Mucheke Hall had slippery surfaces.
The move to have the Zimbabwe team that will compete at the African Union Sports Council Region V tournament in Bulawayo later this year at the Youth Games as the “11th province” was also condemned.
Netball director Memory Gweredza said: “Our programme went on well though we had eight provinces including Team Zimbabwe. This year they imposed the team, but it was a problem because the best players were taken from the provincial teams and that severely affected the level of competition.
“Team Zimbabwe should be selected from the provinces after the competition — not to pluck them out like that.”
Alarming levels of poor data capturing were experienced in athletics, hosted at Victoria High.
Among the aggrieved were Mashonaland West who had an athlete in the 1 500m race missing out on gold as his name had not been captured at the starting line.
Away from the chaotic arrangements, the annual games once again brought to the fore some of the country’s brightest sporting prospects.
Below are some of the starlets:
Athletics
Sprinter Tsitsi Mahachi was in a class of her own winning gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m events, as the 19-year-old captained the Harare girls’ team.
In the boys 100m Shingirai Hlanguyo of Manicaland won gold after crossing the line in 10 seconds flat. Despite a sprained ankle, his counterpart, Guide Mwanza, scooped gold for Harare with a 6,74m leap in long jump.
Handball (Boys)
Harare’s penalty stopper Ali Soma Phiri, son to former Highlanders and Dynamos striker Makwinji Soma Phiri, inspired his team to gold with a series of saves to keep a clean sheet in the final. At 16, Phiri, who is also a football goalkeeper, will most likely feature at the next three editions of the games.
Football (Girls)
Mashonaland Central star Mavis Chirinda was voted player of the final after inspiring her team to a 2-1 win over highly fancied Harare.
Tennis
Mark Chigaazira was on song on the tennis court for Harare Province. Ranked second in the country, Chigaazira won most of his matches without dropping a set.
