Zimbabwe’s athletes and coaches are set to take part in the Regional Sport Awards which are set to take place in Johannesburg, South Africa on 27 May 2017. This is in line with the African Union Sports Council Region strategy of encouraging and promoting sport in the Region.
Countries in the Region are all expected to hold Annual Sport Awards and the Regional Sport Awards (RASA) will be held in the following year. The awards will comprise of the following categories:
- Junior Sportswoman of the Year
- Junior Sportsman of the Year
- Sportsman of the Year
- Sportswoman of the Year
- Sportsman of the Year with a Disability
- Sportswoman of the Year with a Disability
- Coach of the Year
- Team of the Year
- Sports Journalist of the Year
In the case of Zimbabwe, the Sports and Recreation Commission has already entered the names of the nominees in the above categories and they were drawn from the winners of the 2016 Annual National Sport Awards.
“As the body mandated to organize the Annual National Sport Awards, we were glad to forward the names of those who won during the 2016 Annual National Sport Awards which were held in January this year.
The nominees are as follows:
| Name of Nominee | Sport Code | Category |
| Danielle Marie Baker | Golf | Junior Sportswoman of the year |
| Beaven Sibanda | Karate | Junior Sportsman of the Year |
| Charles Manyuchi | Professional Boxing | Sportsman of the Year |
| Micheen Barbra Thornycroft | Rowing | Sportswoman of the Year |
| Margret Bangajena | Wheelchair racing | Sportswoman of the Year with a Disability |
| Munyaradzi Musariri | Intellectually Challenged (Special Olympics) | Sportsman of the Year with a Disability |
| Rachel Jane Davies | Rowing | Coach of the Year |
| The Mighty Warriors | Football | Team of the Year |
| Zimbabwe Karate Union | Karate | Sports Confederation of the Year |
| Henry Mhara | N/A- Newsday | Sports Journalist of the Year |
It is our hope and sincere conviction that these nominees will acquit themselves well during the Regional Sporty Awards thus putting our name on the world sporting map” Muchechetere said.
He further added that these awards underscore the importance of the Annual National Sport Awards (ANSA) as such there was need for the National Sport Associations to subscribe to these awards when the call for nominations is made.
Muchechetere also revealed that Zimbabwe had been honoured by the Region by asking it to second adjudicators for the Regional Sports Journalist of the Year Awards.
“The organizers of the Regional Sports Awards (RASA) asked us to nominate four Adjudicators in the Sports Journalist Awards for both print and electronic media and we are pleased to announce that Messrs Spencer Banda and Josh Muntali will represent us in the electronic section while Messrs Tinashe Kusema and Mlondolozi Ndlovu will represent us in the print media.
“In coming up with the names for the electronic section, we were guided by the Sports Journalist Association, while in the print media we used the ones that we are working with, in the Annual National Sports Awards Judges Panel”, said Muchechetere.
Our hope is that through the Regional Sport Awards, more opportunities will be opened for both the athletes and officials so that we may take our sport to another level.
