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Leonard Ncube in Victoria Falls
MATABELELAND North province has set a budget of $100 000 for this year’s National Youth Education through Sport (YES) festival to be held in Hwange in December.

The local organising committee (Loc) has been busy, with a number of meetings as preparations gather momentum.

The Loc chief executive officer Burzil Dube said December 1-5 are the provisional dates for the festival at which each of the 10 provinces is expected to bring five Under-15 teams in three disciplines, netball, soccer and volleyball.

“We have set December 1-5 as provisional dates and Hwange Colliery facilities will be used as venues,” said Dube.

“We have identified a school to use as a command centre, but we can’t mention it now since we are still engaging authorities. We will use the occasion as a barometer to prepare for the Youth Games next year. We are looking at a budget of $100 000 for the event and we are very optimistic we will meet our target because Matabeleland North is one of the richest provinces in terms of resources,” said Dube.

Last year’s YES Games were held in Chinhoyi, Mashonaland West, and this culminated in the recent Youth Games in the same province.

Dube said they would approach the corporate world to raise the money, as well as undertake fundraising activities.

“We are hopeful of getting support from the corporate world and as you may know, our patron the Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs Minister Cain Mathema is very supportive,” said Dube.

He said the Loc had set up a technical team that is going around schools identifying talent for the event.

The YES Games’ purpose is to impart life skills to youths through sport and is anchored on three components, Sport, Peer Education and Community projects.

The three components have an equal weighting in the competitions for the ultimate result of the winning teams, with points awarded on an equal basis.

– @ncubeleon