The Midlands province is hosting the final Zimbabwe National Youth and Paralympic Games final Assembly which brings together the Provincial General Managers from 10 geographical provinces and 9 virtual provinces, Sport Competition Directors from 19 sport codes, members of the Local Organizing Committee, the Provincial Sport and Recreation Development Committee, Sports and Recreation Commission and the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation.
The purpose of the Assembly is to conduct a final inspection of the sport competition venues and accommodation places and to agree on the Games format to include the Games rules and dispute resolution procedures and the general logistical plan which will support the Games.
“During the tour of the Midlands Province, participating provinces will have the opportunity to see the accommodation facilities, dining halls, catering facilities and the sport competition venues which will be used during the course of the Games. The Provincial delegates, the SRC Management and Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation officials will have an appreciation of the state of the facilities earmarked for the Games and make suggestions for improvement before the commencement of the Games.
“This visit is coming an opportune time because this is exactly a month before the Games and it is our conviction that there is ample time for the Local Organizing Committee to ensure that all the ducks are in a row between now and then. The visit is also meant to ensure that the SRC and the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation have a better appreciation of the situation on the ground and possibly make interventions where they may be require and avoid last minute rush”, said Tirivashe Nheweyembwa SRC Corporate Communication Head.
During the Games Assembly which is the Games’ highest decision making organ of the Games structure, the Local Organizing Committee will be expected to give a state of preparedness update and also the same will be expected of the sport competition Directors who will present the sport competition format, rules and regulations which will be applied during the Games.
“It will be duty of the Assembly to ratify the Games format, rules and regulations that will be applied during the course of the Games, the number of technical officials which each sport code will require during the entire duration of the Games.
“The Games overall rules and regulations together with the dispute resolution procedures will be presented by the Games Project Manager Martin Dururu while Shepherd Mukanhairi SRC’s Provincial Coordination and Recreation Manager will cap it by working with the Assembly to develop the remaining critical milestones which all the stakeholders have to meet before coming to the Midlands Province for the Games”, added Nheweyembwa.
The Minister of State for Provincial Affairs for the Midlands province Hon. Owen Ncube and the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Hon. Kazembe Kazembe will address the Assembly on 19 July 2018.
This year the Games are going to include the under 13 in athletics, football, netball and tennis and will run in two blocks with Block 1 being for under 13 and 18 Youth and Paralympic Games participants while the under 23 which include the tertiary institutions, Agricultural colleges, security service will complete the table of the participants. It is the first time that the Zimbabwe National Youth Games will run concurrently with the National Paralympic Games. These two platforms will be used as a basis to gauge the athletes’ performance for the upcoming African Union Sports Council Region 5 under 20 Youth Games set for December in Gaborone, Botswana
The Games will run from 15-21 August (under 13 and 18) and 22 -21 August 2018 will be for the under 23 and the open age group for the Paralympic athletes. The next hosting province for the Games is Mashonaland East province.
