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Leonard Ncube in Victoria Falls
AN all-stakeholders delegation that toured various sporting facilities earmarked for the Zimbabwe National Youth Games in Victoria Falls noted need for sprucing up some of the venues before they can be certified suitable to host the games.

Matabeleland North province hosts the inaugural rebranded Youth Games with 22 sport codes, compared to the generic eight since their inception in 2003.

The delegation comprising officials from the Ministry of Sport and Recreation, Sports and Recreation Commission, competitions directors and general managers from all the country’s provinces as well as the local organising committee, inspected grounds at Mosi-oa-Tunya High School, Victoria Falls Sports Club, Elephant Hills Golf Course as well as Chamabondo Primary School, which will provide accommodation.

Head of delegation Euginia Chidhakwa, who is director of sport development and promotion in the Ministry of Sport and Recreation, said the final list of facilities to be used will be known after a review of the tour.

“We have seen the facilities and they are not bad generally. We are going to sit with the technical teams so they give us guidance on how to spruce up some of the facilities.

“We want these games to be a mini-Olympics and a platform to identify talent and as such, government is working flat out to make sure they are a success,” said Chidhakwa.

SRC commissioner Clement Mukwasi called for collaboration by all partners for the success of the games.

“Our facilities are fair. The framework is there and now we need to work on the standard. There is a need for further improvement and as such we call upon all government departments to collaborate with sport managers to make sure the games are a success,” Mukwasi said.

National Youth Games local organising committee chief executive officer Burzil Dube said they will be guided by the final assessment report.

“The team is here to familiarise with facilities. We started in Bulawayo, went to Lupane and tomorrow (today) we will be touring those in Hwange.

“After that we will sit and come up with a review of suitability of these facilities. Generally many of them meet the standards and may need a bit of sprucing up, but for us, it’s all systems go,” Dube said.

Sport and Recreation Minister Makhosini Hlongwane will jet into the province today to inspect the same facilities in Victoria Falls before proceeding to Hwange to join the tour ahead of the official launch in the evening.

Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs Minister Cain Mathema will preside over the official launch at the Edmund Davies Hall in Hwange. — @ncubeleon.