NAAZ on kids athletics programme
THE National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe have begun rolling out the Kids Athletics Programme with five provinces running workshops on how to implement the program.
The developmental programme, catering for athletes between the age of 5 and 12, has been visible in Harare and Bulawayo with national competitions being held in the two provinces.
However, NAAZ are spreading the programme to other provinces and Bulawayo, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Manicaland and Mashonaland West are running three-day workshops on how to implement the programme.
The workshops targeting teachers and coaches started yesterday and will end tomorrow.
The other five provinces will run the same workshops next week.
Tagara said the programme will not only benefit athletics but other sporting disciplines as well as it teaches the basics required in any other sport.
“The Kids Athletics is a global concept started by the IAAF to fight obesity, to retain more kids in the sport of athletics and to be a base for talent identification for any sports.
“It is also aims to develop the concept of teamwork and team building at an early age as well as instill the norms and values of respect.
“Athletics is the base for any sport. So kids athletics builds the basics for any sport. We have 20 trainers at national level so these are the people running the coursers at provincial level.
“The objective is dissemination of information on how to coach kids athletics, implementation of the kids athletics program and the implication of improvisation,” said Tagara.
Tagara said the programme will lead to continuity in terms of producing athletes as they will have a broad base for talent identification.
“There is continuous talent identification. Now that its part of the new curriculum more kids are exposed to the basics of athletics because be it football or rugby it involves running and endurance among other things. That’s all athletics,” said Tagara.
In another development, the national association are bringing in top Botswana sprints coach, Mogomotsi Otsetswe, to assist in that department.
Otsetswe is expected to be in the country from February 2 to 12.
“We are bringing in a top coach for sprints from Botswana. Our target is the sprint coaches, he is an expert in that area.
“After the coming of the Germany expert we asked IAAF to run our own workshops here with top coaches and that’s why we are bringing in this coach,” Tagara said.