The ManicaPost
Fungayi Munyoro Sports Correspondent
TEAM Manicaland is geared up for the Zimbabwe National Youth and Paralympics games slated for August 4-10 in Gweru.
The prestigious sports event was shelved last year following a typhoid outbreak in the city.
More than 2000 athletes from the country’s ten provinces expected to compete in 19 sporting disciplines that include soccer, athletics, handball, boxing, tennis, netball, volleyball, cricket and basketball among others.
The first block made up of Paralympics sport codes runs from July 29-August 3. The second block made up of the Under-18 runs from August 4-8 and the Under-23 will run from August 5-10.
In an interview with Post Sport, Manicaland team manager Masimba Chihohwa said preparations for the event are at an advanced stage with the Paralympics team leaving for Gweru tomorrow (Saturday).
“We are sending a team that will participate in the Paralympics games first. The team is leaving on Saturday and the games will run from July 29- August 3. We have 25 athletes and officials. Our Under-18 team will then follow and their games will commence on August 4-8. The team has a total of 30 athletes and officials. The last batch of athletes is the Under-23. For now I am not sure how many athletes will go since the team comes from the community,” he said.
Chihohwa expressed confidence in team Manicaland.
“We might be sending few athletes but we selected the best athletes in our province. We did not have camp because a lot of these athletes are in schools. This year we cannot talk of targets but we are certain of a good performance. In 2017, our team did well and we hope we will even do better this team around,” he said.
