Raymond Jaravaza Sports Correspondent
THE Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services Commissioner General’s Sports Week currently underway in Bulawayo and Ntabazinduna will be used to select a team that will represent the country in the Sadc Games next year.

Southern African countries will meet in August for the Sadc Prisons, Penitentiary, Correctional Services Sports and Cultural Exchange Games. The host country is yet to be announced.

An average of 120 athletes is representing each of the country’s five administrative regions, Matabeleland, Mashonaland, Manicaland, Midlands/Masvingo and National Headquarters in 10 sporting disciplines.

Golfers that include the Commissioner General Paradzai Zimondi will tee off at the Harry Allen Golf Club on Friday, while tennis is being played at the Bulawayo Athletic Club.

Eight other codes football, netball, volleyball, chess, darts, pool, tug of war and athletics are being staged in Ntabazinduna.

Acting public relations officer of the ZPCS Priscilla Mthembu said selection panels comprising three technical specialists in each discipline will select outstanding athletes that will make up Team Zimbabwe.

The games involve prison officers and not prisoners.

“We deliberately left out athletes who compete in professional teams such as Whawha FC, netball players who play in the national league and other big names in athletics to give a chance to prison officers to take part in the games that aim to maintain a healthy service through sport and promote interaction amongst participants,” said Mthembu.

“A team of technical specialists will select a team of about 100 athletes that will represent the country in next year’s Sadc Games. We last held the Commissioner General’s Sports Week in 2012 due to the hard economic environment but we managed to get sponsors this year,” said Mthembu.

Sadc Games were held in Botswana last year.

Nyaradzo and Moonlight Funeral Services together with GTel are the principal sponsors of this year’s edition, while the government also chipped in with some of the funding.

The local games, which started on Monday and end on Saturday, are running under the theme “Correct, empower and develop through sport”.

 

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