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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter 

NATIONAL Association of Secondary Heads (Nash) Matabeleland North province has thrown a lifeline to 13 and 14-year-old athletes by allowing them to compete at primary school level.

Previously athletes in Form 1 and 2 had no age group to compete in as they were deemed too young to compete in the first level age group, the Under-15s, and this resulted in most of them giving up athletics in frustration.

However, at a meeting of district heads in charge of athletics in Matabeleland North and the Nash provincial leadership at the Umguza education offices, the heads agreed that beginning this year, all age groups will be catered for.

“We tend to lose good athletes because of this age group challenge so we are saying if you have such talented athletes please give them to a primary school close to you so that they can compete with their peers. This will also help the province when we go for national competitions, especially now that we are having joint competition with our primary school counterparts,” said Nash Matabeleland North deputy chairperson Sicelo Dube.

The provincial competitions will be held at Mosi-oa-Tunya High School in Victoria Falls in early March when the province will select a team for the national finals set for Peterhouse College in Marondera, Mashonaland East.

Hopes are high that the province will do well compared to previous years when it seemed fashionable to finish last or second from last.

A number of technical changes are expected to be made by the head-in-charge of athletics Cain Ncube.

While athletes have been changing annually, there has not been any personnel changes in the coaches yet results have not been forthcoming.

“We are declaring that coming last is now in the past. We can’t always be going to these competitions to make up numbers; drastic changes are needed and must be implemented. Even this business of going with three busloads of athletes must be looked into because not only is it costly, but it makes no sense to just carry an athlete simply because he or she came first in an event. ‘We need to analyse their chances of a medal at national level. In short, we will only carry medal hopefuls,” said Dube.