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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
THE Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) has made the return of schools’ sport a top priority for the second term that starts next Tuesday.

The first term of the schools’ calendar ended without any sport being played despite restrictions being relaxed for association sports countrywide.

With the onset of the Covid-19 scourge, schools’ sport hit a halt and it’s now two-and-a-half years without any action in schools.

In the new curriculum, sport constitutes a bigger part of extracurricular activities that aid to a learner’s aptitude.

SRC official Martin Dururu indicated that frantic efforts are being made for the return of schools’ sport next term.

“The issue of schools’ sport is obviously a topical issue. As SRC we have tried to be active and have engaged our current Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, and advocated for engagement with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education so that the bulk of schools’ sport is allowed to resume.

The signs that we have seen so far indicate that come the second term we should be able to support the gradual resumption of schools’ sport.

“It is confirmation that we are waiting and we are also preparing ourselves for the eventuality that Zimbabwe will be participating in the African Youth Games set for August in Egypt.

We will also be sending a team in December to the AUSC Region 5 Games in Malawi and those are largely in Under-17 and Under-18 age categories.

These are age categories in schools, so we are saying for Zimbabwe to prepare effectively to put together a strong team, we need our schools’ system to be up and running,” said Dururu.

He said they were happy that some private schools had taken it upon themselves to approach the SRC directly with their own Covid-19 protocols, which it considered, approved and supervised.

“We were very satisfied with the conditions they put in place for the resumption of activities.

Basically, I would say as far as the return to sport is concerned, we are happy with the progress we are making.

We are happy with measures being put in place to manage the spread of Covid-19 and generally to ensure the wellness and safety of our athletes,” he said.

Schools’ sport plays a huge role as a talent nurturing ground and feeder system for the country’s professional sporting disciplines.

National schools’ competitions have over the years been a good ground for talent identification and some have ended up in professional ranks locally and abroad.

However, most budding sportspersons’ dreams have been shattered by the pandemic in the past two-and-a-half years during which schools sport has been frozen.

National competitions such as the Copa Coca-Cola Football Tournament, National Association of Secondary Heads and National Association of Primary Heads athletics competitions have been a stepping stone for a number of successful sportspersons in the country.

Missing out in such events may have frustrated some young talent to give up sport altogether.

– @innocentskizoe