Allen Khumalo, Sports Reporter
THE National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (NAAZ) has released its calendar of events for 2017 and eight major events are lined up for this month.
A National Season Opener Cross Country in Harare this Saturday will kickstart the athletics calendar followed by the NAAZ Track and Field event for cadets, youths and juniors at B Arena in Harare on Sunday.
The Harare Athletics Board (HAB) will hold its first event of the year, a Season Opener Cross Country competition at Morris Depot on Saturday, while the Bulawayo Athletics Board (BAB) will hold a similar event in Mpopoma on the same day.
BAB will also host a track and field competition at White City Stadium on Sunday January 15.
From January 21-22, the country’s 10 provinces will all stage Provincial Cross Country Championships.
The Zonal Championships from January 23-24 will round up the January athletics calendar.
NAAZ president Tendai Tagara said they were looking forward to having a fruitful year and would also send a strong team to the International Athletics Association Federation (IAAF) to be held in London in August.
“We had a very fruitful year in 2016 because we managed to send a team to the Rio Olympics in Brazil and we managed to take part in other regional competitions. This year, we are planning to continue where we left off because we need a team that will represent the country at the IAAF Championships in London. Our main objective this year is to send full teams to all major events, getting new partners in athletics and having more middle distance runners because we have had challenges in this discipline,” said Tagara.
He said even though they had a fruitful 2016 season, the association faced challenges getting sponsorship.
“Getting sponsors was one of the challenges we faced last year, but we are glad some companies helped us here and there. Right now we are in the process of looking for sponsors because for the sport to grow and produce stars, we need financial backing. We are therefore asking for anyone willing to make a difference in the country’s athletics to come forward and assist,” said he said.
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