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Manuel Mpofu

Allen Khumalo, Sports Reporter
RE-ELECTED Bulawayo Athletics Board (BAB) chairman Manuel Mpofu has promised to expose young athletes to quality coaching which should enable them to secure international scholarships.

Members of BAB retained Mpofu for another four-year term during a lowly publicised elective congress held in the city last week.

BAB’s affiliates who attended the meeting are Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Fairbridge, Northlea Athletics Club, Turnall Athletics Club, National Association of Primary School Heads (Naph), National Association of Secondary School Heads (Nash), Ihlosi Athletics Club and the National University on Science and Technology (Nust).

“We have great plans lined up which will help in the development of athletics in Bulawayo. Our first objective is to open an operational office at White City Stadium so that all athletes and practitioners get services at one place, meaning our communication with affiliates will greatly improve.

“Athletes should also be able to get access to the stadium twice per week in order to improve their performance and get used to a professional environment,” Mpofu said.

“The board is also hoping to improve our training equipment and techniques because our main target is that our athletes qualify for United States scholarships.

“We have been working closely with Arnold Payne of Global Sports International and Darryl Anderson on the scholarships issue.

“We learnt about what is needed for athletes to get scholarships and we will work on helping aspiring athletes so that they realise their dreams.

“We will also be working with coaches from around the city to achieve our development goals.

“It doesn’t matter which club one represents, our main objective is to develop the sport in Bulawayo,” he said.

Mpofu said the board is looking forward to increasing the number of athletes for inter-provincial games to give exposure to local talent.

Meanwhile, Tivawone Gava retained his vice-chairperson position with Rebecca Ncube taking the secretary seat while Caron Thashamba will deputise Ncube.

BAB members also elected Elicah Ngorima as treasurer, Eusebia Ncube as women’s representative with committee members being Watson Madenyika, Benson Mwanza, Patsoni Shito as well as Cephas Ndlovu.

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