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ZIMBABWE will take a delegation of 198 athletes and officials to this year’s African Union Sports Council Region Five Under-20 Games set for Angola in December.The list has been presented to the Sports and Recreation Commission board led by Edward Siwela which met to vet it before releasing it to the public. Other board members include David Ellman-Brown, Jessie Nyakatawa, Ethan Dube, Miriam Mushayi, Obadiah Moyo, Aisha Tsimba and Farai Kanyangarara.

Acting SRC director-general Joseph Muchechetere said Zimbabwe will compete in eight disciplines at the biannual games that will run from December 5-18.

“We will compete in athletics, including athletics for the visually impaired, basketball, boxing, football, gymnastics, swimming, netball and tennis.“The list which is now in the hands of the SRC board was done by the selection committee led by Zimbabwe Volleyball Association president Fredrick Ndlovu,” said Muchechetere.

He said the country had paid its $54 000 deposit to the host country in affiliation fees and were now seized with mobilising funds to pay off the remainder. “Our chef de mission Chiedza Mafunga is in Angola as we speak for the final chef de missions’ meeting. So far it’s all going according to plan,” said Muchechetere.

Venues for the sport codes have already been identified, with athletics set to be held at Estadio dos Coqueiros and basketball at Pavilhao da Cidadela, which is the same venue for boxing and judo.

Netball will be at Codem, tennis at the Club Tenis de Luanda, while Piscina de Alvalade will host swimming events.The African Union Sport Council Region Five is the sports arm of the African Union and is headquartered in Yaoundé, Cameroon.The main aim of AUSC is to use sports to achieve peace, integration and unity in Africa by using sport as a vehicle to encourage people to develop and come together, irrespective of colour, economic status, politics, class or gender.

AUSC divided Africa into seven competition zones due to the vastness of the continent and for financial prudence.Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe form the AUSC Region Five — The Herald.