Track and field event at Pelandaba

THE Matabeleland South provincial track and field championships are set to held at Phelandaba Stadium in Gwanda on Saturday to prepare for the inter-provincial competitions scheduled for Bulawayo next month.

Matabeleland South Athletics Board secretarygeneral Falimehang Mathe said several clubs from the province were expected to participate in Saturday’s event.

He said their aim was to come up with a strong squad for the inter-provincials to be held at White City Stadium in Bulawayo on May 12.

“We have invited all districts from the province to participate and we expect a number of clubs to take part. This competition will help produce a strong and highly competitive team to represent the province at the inter-provincial competition. At the same time, it’s an opportunity to identify new talent and to keep our athletes in shape for upcoming competitions,” said Mathe.

He said the championships were being held under the theme “Celebrating our legends to inspire new talent”.

“The message we want to relay under this theme is that renowned athletes from the province have a role to play in grooming and nurturing upcoming talent. At the same time we want to celebrate our legends for the achievements they have accomplished. We would like to urge established athletes hailing from this province, but affiliated to other institutions, to come back once in a while to help groom upcoming talent,” he said.

Mathe also appealed to schools in Gwanda district and the locals to support Saturday’s event by turning up in large numbers.

He said they were also working with the National Association of Primary School Heads and National Association of Secondary School Heads to identify and nurture talent by holding provincial competitions every quarter. — @DubeMatutu